Remark on Karunanidhi shows AIADMK leader's pettiness: DMK

Hours after Tamil Nadu Information Kadambur Raju's remark on the Marina Beach burial for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch Karunanidhi being alms granted by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), DMK leader Durai Murugan retaliated saying it was the Madras High Court, and not the AIADMK, which allowed the burial to take place.

The DMK leader also said that Raju's statement throws light on his pettiness.

"The remarks made by the minister show his pettiness. He is not fit to be called a leader. It is not AIADMK, rather the court which granted us permission," Murugan said while addressing the reporters.

Raju, who was speaking at a public meeting in Kovilpatti in Thoothukudi district, said, "Even when the High Court directed to give land at Anna Memorial, we chose not to appeal, due to our generosity. If Karunanidhi is lying in Anna Memorial, it is only because the alms are given by us to them."

He further said that the AIADMK offered land for Karunanidhi's burial, despite the latter not serving as the incumbent chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

"We offered land to Karunanidhi despite the fact that he was not the present chief minister of the state. We didn't even appeal against the Madras High Court verdict as well. Karunanidhi got a land at the Marina Beach only because of the generosity showed by the AIADMK government," he said.

Karunanidhi, who was Tamil Nadu's longest-serving chief minister, breathed his last in August this year at the age of 94 after a period of prolonged illness.

Soon after the DMK patriarch's demise, the state government denied burial space for him near the Anna Memorial at Marina beach, which caused violence across Chennai. However, the Madras High Court granted permission to the DMK to bury Karunanidhi at the Marina Beach.