CHENNAI: Muthuvel Karunanidhi, a doyen of Dravidian politics, was today laid to rest on the Marina beachfront as a sea of humanity bid him a tearful farewell after an unsavoury courtroom battle his party won to secure for him the final resting place at the Chennai landmark.
The country’s high and mighty descended on the city to pay their last respects to the “Thalaivar” (the leader), school dropout, who left an indelible imprint on the state’s public life over decades through his literary, cinematic and political achievements.
The 94-year-old leader had breathed his last at a hospital here after fighting for life for 11 days.
A galaxy of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, and his Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh counterparts Pinarayi Vijayan, K Chandrasekhar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu were in attendance.
So were CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, his predecessor Prakash Karat, and former chief ministers of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh Oommen Chandy and Akilesh Yadav.
Karunanidhi was buried with full military honours with soldiers giving him a gun salute and buglars sounding the last post.
Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Rahul Gandhi, union minister and the lone BJP Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu Pon Radhakrishnan, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad placed wreaths at the feet of the departed leader at the Marina. (AGENCIES)
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