Karunanidhi statue to be installed at Omandurar estate: Stalin

Omandurar, an oval-shaped complex in the heart of Chennai’s Triplicane was originally intended to be the new secretariat complex of Tamil Nadu, as envisaged by then chief minister Karunanidhi in 2008.

Published on: Apr 27, 2022, 24:30:48 IST

By Divya Chandrababu, Chennai

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Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday announced in the assembly that a statue of his father and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch M Karunanidhi would be installed in Omandurar Estate on June 3, his birth anniversary.

This was part of the announcements made by Stalin in the state assembly as Karunanidhi’s birth anniversary will be celebrated as a state function.

Omandurar, an oval-shaped complex in the heart of Chennai’s Triplicane was originally intended to be the new secretariat complex of Tamil Nadu, as envisaged by then chief minister Karunanidhi in 2008. It was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

However, after the late J Jayalalithaa-led the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) came to power in 2011, she converted the newly built complex into a multi-speciality hospital, which was seen as an act of revenge as she retained Fort St George as the secretariat.

According to people aware of the developments, when Stalin took over as chief minister last May, there was speculation that he may shift to Omandurar. Some even wanted Stalin to end what his father started. Stalin was also cautioned by the AIADMK against doing so. However, the ruling government let the hospital be and silenced rumours. Omandurar continues to function as a hospital, and during the Covid-19 outbreak, it was marked as an important government treatment and vaccination centre for SARS-CoV-2.

On Tuesday, Stalin listed Karunanidhi’s achievements as a five-time chief minister of the state while also talking about his political growth.

“Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) had been the Chief Minister for 19 years,” Stalin said in the assembly. “Kalaignar created the modern Tamil Nadu that we see today. He created all the symbols of Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi is the only leader to have won all the by-elections and remained undefeated. He has been elected to the Legislative Assembly 13 times.” Karunanidhi passed away in 2018 at the age of 94.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Divya Chandrababu
Divya Chandrababu is an award-winning political and human rights journalist based in Chennai, India. Divya is presently Assistant Editor of the Hindustan Times where she covers Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at NDTV-Hindu where she anchored and wrote prime time news bulletins. Later, she covered politics, development, mental health, child and disability rights for The Times of India. Divya has been a journalism fellow for several programs including the Asia Journalism Fellowship at Singapore and the KAS Media Asia- The Caravan for narrative journalism. Divya has a master's in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick, UK. As an independent journalist Divya has written for Indian and foreign publications on domestic and international affairs.Read More

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