Tamil Nadu government to install M Karunanidhi statue again on Anna Salai

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Wednesday announced that a statue of late chief minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi would be re-installed on Anna Salai in Chennai. A statue of the leader installed on the arterial road earlier was vandalised on December 24, 1987, hours after then CM M G Ramachandran died at his residence in Ramavaram Gardens.The statue was damaged in the ensuing violence.
It was installed by the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1975 to fulfill the dream of party founder E V Ramasamy (Periyar) at the junction of General Patters Road and Anna Salai in Chennai. It was unveiled by religious leader Kundrakudi Adigal.
“Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani met me a couple of days ago and urged me to reinstall the statue of Kalaignar Karunanidhi on Anna Salai. When I explained to him the court order regarding the installation of statues in public places, he (Veeramani) informed me that the statue was installed 45 years ago after obtaining the then government’s permission,” Stalin said in the assembly while replying to Thiru Vi Ka Nagar MLA V Neelakandan (DMK), during the debate on demands for grants for various departments.
Neelakandan, while participating in the debate, appealed to the CM to install again a statue of the former CM on Anna Salai. “We will discuss with legal experts and take efforts to install the former CM’s statue on Anna Salai without disturbing the public and traffic flow,” Stalin said.
There are statues of Periyar and former chief ministers C N Annadurai and M G Ramachandran on Anna Salai.