Stalin leads peace march on Karunanidhi's death anniversary

Chennai: Late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi was remembered on his fifth death anniversary on Monday, with his son and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin leading a peace march in memory of the Dravidian stalwart.

Stalin led the march after garlanding a statue of the leader on the premises of the Omandurar government estate here and it culminated at the former CM's memorial at the Marina Beach. Also, the chief of the ruling DMK, Stalin was joined by his sister Kanimozhi, son Udhayanidhi, cabinet colleagues and scores of party workers.

Paying his tributes, the DMK president said the 2024 Lok Sabha polls is not a "usual, once in 5-year polls" but an election that would determine the future of democracy in India. Tamil Nadu is the beginning for everything and it is the state that paved the way for the opposition alliance INDIA, which has spread across the nation, he said.

The vision and dreams of the late leader on the ideals of self-respect, social justice, equality, state autonomy and a federal India has been taken forward across the country by the party, he said. In Delhi, top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi paid floral tributes to a decorated portrait of Karunanidhi. In Puducherry, Chief Minister N Rangasamy paid homage to the late leader.

The DMK leaders paid floral tributes here at the memorial of Karunanidhi, which was decorated with flowers. Karunanidhi (1924-2018), a Dravidian stalwart, was a five-time chief minister and helmed the party for nearly five decades till his death.