Chennai: DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, a colossus of Dravidian politics, died here on Tuesday after waging a grim battle for life for 11 days even as a major controversy erupted over where he will be buried. A major controversy has, meanwhile, erupted after the state government rejected the DMK’s demand for alloting space for Karunanidhi’s burial on the Marina beach and offered space near the memorials to former chief ministers Chakravarty Rajagopalachari and K. Kamraj at Guindy.
Setting the stage for a courtroom drama, the DMK moved the Madras High Court against the government’s decision and Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G. Ramesh is likely to hold a special hearing at his residence at 10.30 p.m on Tuesday. DMK working president M.K. Stalin, recalling the long public life of Karunanidhi, had written to Chief Minister K. Palaniswami seeking space inside the mausoleum complex of the departed leader’s mentor C.N. Annadurai at the Marina.
Stalin also met the chief minister hours before his father’s death. A government statement said it was “unable to allot space at Marina beach owing to several pending cases in the Madras High Court and legal complications.” Hence, the government is prepared to allott a two-acre site on Sardar Patel Road near the memorials to Rajaji and Kamaraj, it said. Some reports said the government was reluctant about allotting space for Karunanidhi’s burial at the Marina as he was not a sitting chief minister.
Former chief minister M G Ramachandran and his protegee J Jayalalitha were buried at the Marina beach and memorials to them were erected there. Both were bitter foes of Karunanidhi in politics. DMK supporters pulled down the barricades put by the police outside the Kauvery Hospital and smashed some of them as they protested against the government’s decision. Police personnel in anti-riot gear were seen chasing them away. The Prime Minister’s Office said Modi will leave for Chennai in the morning and return by evening. There is no official word yet from the DMK about when the last rites of the leader will take place.
