TN Assembly pays homage to Vajpayee, Karuna and former members

The Tamil Nadu Assembly Thursday adopted condolence resolutions for former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, ex-Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and former DMK chief M Karunanidhi.

The ruling AIADMK, especially was generous in its praise of the late Karunanidhi, against whom the party came into existence in 1972.

The House also condoled the victims of November 16 Gaja cyclone that devastated, among others, Nagapattinam and Thanjavur districts.

Condolence resolutions for Vajpayee, former Tamil Nadu Governor Bhishma Narayan Singh and Chatterjee besides some others were placed before the House by Speaker P Dhanapal.

Deputy Chief Minister and Leader of the House, O Panneerselvam, moved condolence resolutions for Karunanidhi and AIADMK MLA AK Bose, who had passed away in August last.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami hailed Vajpayee for having served "efficiently" as an MP, before becoming the first Prime Minister from BJP.

Moving the resolution for Karunanidhi, Panneerselvam hailed Karunanidhi for his grit and determination, besides pointing to his "multi-faceted personality" by virtue of donning various roles including that of a writer and orator.

He had achieved a lot in the Tamil cinema industry by his writings and had impressive oratorical skills, he said.

He recalled the friendship between AIADMK founder, the late Chief Minister MG Ramachandran and Karunanidhi, and said this had transcended political differences.

Though Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa "had differences of opinion with Kalaignar M Karunanidhi, both leaders had great love for him," he added.

His demise is a "great loss for all of us," and an "irreparable one" for the DMK, he said.

In the condolence resolution moved by him, the House expressed "shock and grief" over the death of Karunanidhi, a five-time chief minister, and expressed sympathies and condolences with his son and Leader of Opposition, MK Stalin, and DMK workers.

Referring to Karunanidhi as 'Kalaignar', as he was addressed fondly by his supporters and respectfully by other political leaders, Palaniswami recalled the DMK veteran's 13-time unbeaten stint as MLA, besides his early entry into politics as a teen.

"He had the distinction of being the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five times.. he created social awareness through his writings in cinema," he said.

The DMK leader had left his mark both in state and national politics, Palaniswami said adding in the past the AIADMK had welcomed schemes launched by Karunanidhi in public interest.

Karunanidhi was a simple and affable man and had the distinction of having "seen" all Prime Ministers of independent India, right from the late Jawaharlal Nehru to the incumbent Narendra Modi, he said.

Recalling his earlier visit to the hospital where Karunanidhi was admitted to prior to his August 7 demise, Palaniswami said he had hoped that the former would return in good health and resume public service.

"His demise came as a shock to us," he added.

DMK Deputy Leader Durai Murugan spoke on the resolution on behalf of his party and paid rich tributes to his leader, while recalling Karunanidhi's contributions to the Tamil language, the state and its people.

KR Ramasamy (Congress) and the lone IUML member AM Abubacker also spoke on the resolution.

The respective resolutions were later adopted after the members observed two minutes' silence.

Obituary references were also made for former members who had passed away recently.

Meanwhile, Stalin thanked Dhanapal, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam for the resolution soon after the House was adjourned for the day following the obituary references.