MG Ramachandran's 100th birth anniversary: AIADMK pays tribute to its founder

NEW DELHI: On the 100th birth anniversary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran , All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary VK Sasikala unveiled a life-size statue of the party's founder at his former residence in Ramavaram Gardens.
Sasikala was received by Ramachandran's adopted daughter Sudha Vijayakumar and her son. In the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Panneerselvam, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai and others, she unfurled the party flag there
Sasikala also distributed welfare assistance at the AIADMK headquarters, and attended an event conducted by a school for the hearing and speech-impaired in Ramavaram - where she distributed hearing aids worth Rs 19 lakh, the party said.She later served food, and had lunch with the students.
The AIADMK chief today also garlanded a statue of Ramachandran at the party headquarters.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam paid floral tributes to a portrait of MGR at Guindy with his cabinet colleagues in tow.
At an official function, a special postage stamp was also released to mark Ramachandran's birth centenary.
Director General of Postal Services, India Post, T Murthy released the stamp, and Panneerselvam received it.
The Chief Minister and Sasikala had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release a special postage stamp and commemorative coin in honour of Ramachandran, who is a Tamil cinema icon and a Bharat Ratna recipient.
Citizens pay tribute to MGR
Citizens, AIADMK workers, and supporters of Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar - who has said she'll enter politics - thronged the MGR Memorial near Marina Beach, ANI reported.

Jayakumar herself travelled to the memorial to pay tributes to her aunt's great mentor, but was forced to return without doing so because of the crowd.
Inputs from agencies