DMK demands Bharat Ratna for Karunanidhi as tribute to 'tallest leader'
New Delhi: The DMK on Friday demanded the nation's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, for party patriarch M Karunanidhi who passed away in Chennai on August 7.
The party said the award will be a real tribute to the late Tamil Nadu leader's outstanding and exemplary work which had left an indelible mark in history.
M Karunanidhi, who led the DMK for five decades, was the Chief Minister for 19 years spread over five terms.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, DMK's Tiruchi Shiva dubbed Karunanidhi the "tallest leader of the country and a Dravidian stalwart".
"He lived five years short of a century, out of which he contributed 80 years to the public life, fighting for the cause of the downtrodden, backward and the suppressed people.
"He was an outstanding orator, a prolific writer, a novelist, a short-story writer, a philosopher, a philanthropist and also a dramatist. He was an actor and also wrote scripts for 80 movies," Shiva said enumerating the achievements of M Karunanidhi.
He said that Karunanidhi was "unparalleled" and made a mark in all walks of life.
"His life cannot be described in words. He was a staunch and untiring soldier. He was fighting till his last breath, for social justice, secularism, state autonomy and self respect.
"I would urge the government to confer upon him posthumously the Bharat Ratna, which will be a real tribute to his outstanding and exemplary work which had left an indelible mark in the annals of history," the DMK lawmaker said.
The DMK on Friday said a meeting of its executive committee will be held on August 14 to condole the death of party president M Karunanidhi.
All members of the committee have been asked to participate in the meeting without fail. It will begin at 10 am at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam.
The meeting's agenda is to condole the death of Karunanidhi, a release issued by party general secretary K Anbazhagan said.
A similar meeting was held when party founder and former chief minister C N Annadurai passed away in 1969, a party leader said.
DMK working president M K Stalin later told reporters that the executive committee meeting was only to condole the passing away of Karunanidhi, his father.
He had earlier held a meeting with party general secretary K Anbazhagan.
A party leader said the executive meeting might consider a date for holding the general council meet, which is likely to elevate Stalin as the DMK President.
