Chennai: Going down memory lane at a marriage function in the family of DMK's veteran leader Arcot N Veerasamy in the city on Thursday evening, the DMK president, M K Stalin said in an emotive today, "If I am alive today, it is because of Arcot Veerasamy and former Chennai Mayor Chittibabu."
Recalling the oft-quoted words of his late father, Kalaignar M Karunanidhi, Mr. Stalin, speaking at the wedding reception of the daughter of Kalanidhi Veerasamy, the son of Arcot Veerasamy and Vishnu Prasad, son of Venkatesan, said when he was arrested under the draconian 'MISA' and lodged in Chennai central prison then during the Emergency, it was the sheer presence and moral courage infused by Arcot Veerasamy and Chittibabu that made him (Stalin) stay alive in jail. Mr Kalanidhi Veerasamy was recently elected to Lok Sabha from North Chennai.
"I can emphatically say that I mustered courage in prison thanks to the presence of Arcot," Stalin said, adding, the former minister of Karunanidhi's cabinet had stood like a rock in the ups and downs of the DMK. "I feel honoured to participate in the wedding function of Arcotaar today," he added. Referring to the newly elected DMK MPs' in parliament having started to raise Tamil Nadu issues, Stalin said they will do it more vigorously in the days to come.
