Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday told the Assembly that a statue of late Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi would be installed where it once stood on Anna Salai, in Chennai, 34 years ago.
The statue and the pedestal were damaged by vandals the day AIADMK leader and then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran died on December 24, 1987. When the photo of a boy hitting the chest of the statue with a crowbar appeared in newspapers, Karunanidhi had written in the DMK mouthpiece, Murasoli, “Unlike others who stabbed me on my back, he at least hit me on my chest.”
Responding to DMK lagislator T.K.G. Neelamegam, who wanted the government to install the statue again, Mr. Stalin said Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) president K. Veeramani, who met him a few days ago, had expressed a similar desire to place the statue at the same place, since it was a wish of Periyar [E.V. Ramasamy].
“I told him that there were [court] orders against the installation of statues, as they would affect the flow of traffic. Mr. Veeramani said permission had already been obtained [when it was originally installed], and there was no need to get it again,” Mr. Stalin said.
“There is a statue of Periyar, Anna [C.N. Annadurai] and MGR on Anna Salai. It will be appropriate to consult legal experts. We have to also abide by the order of the court. The statue will certainly be installed on Anna Salai,” he said.
