Eager to back AIADMK's proposal for Bharat Ratna on Thevar, says CM Stalin

MADURAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday said he is "waiting to back AIADMK's recommendation" to confer Bharat Ratna on freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar.

CM Stalin was responding to a question at a press conference held after he paid tributes to Thevar's memorial in Pasumpon on the 63rd guru puja and 118th jayanthi, observed on Thursday.

The puja was celebrated in Madurai, Ramanathapuram and other districts in the southern region on Thursday to commemorate the birth and death anniversary of freedom fighter U Muthuramalinga Thevar, a pioneering leader of the All India Forward Bloc.

Leaders from various political parties were among those who paid homage to the late freedom fighter by garlanding his statue at Goripalayam in Madurai.

The anniversary was celebrated with much more fanfare at the freedom fighter’s birthplace in Pasumpon, a village in Ramanathapuram district.

At Thevar’s memorial in Pasumpon, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister MK Stalin, AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam, Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam leader GM Sridhar Vandayar, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, NTK president Seeman, senior leaders of TVK except Vijay, ministers, and other political leaders paid homage on the occasion.

After paying floral tributes to the freedom fighter, CM Stalin recalled his contributions and added that former CM and DMK president M Karunanidhi's efforts to honour the tall leader. Talking to reporters at Pasumpon, Stalin said Karunanidhi, during his tenure in 1969, visited the Pasumpon village, and the government extended support for the construction of a manimandapam for Thevar in 1974.

In 2007, Karunanidhi declared that Thevar's birth centenary would be celebrated as a government function with all its pride and glory. During the centenary anniversary, various development works were carried out at Pasumpon village at a cost of Rs 2.05 crore, he added.

Moreover, the State government renovated Thevar’s house at Rs 10 lakh, built a library and mandapams for placing milk pots and ‘mulaipari.’

Further, the government established ‘Thevar Arangam’ at a cost of Rs 1.55 crore in Pasumpon last year. CM Stalin added that a new wedding hall would be built at Rs 3 crore in Pasumpon, based on the demands of the people. CM Stalin also praised the late freedom fighter Thevar as a courageous leader.

Listing the DMK government's efforts to honour the freedom fighter, Stalin cited the installation of a life-size bronze statue of Thevar at his memorial. Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar College was established at Melaneelithanallur, and a flyover at Andalpuram in Madurai was named after the Forward Bloc leader, CM Stalin pointed out. An educational trust at Alagappa University in Karaikudi was also named after him, he added.

When Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister, 44.9 acres of land were donated to establish the college at Melaneelithanallur, he pointed out. Unfortunately, the lands were encroached upon. Once the DMK government came to power in 2021, the land was retrieved, CM Stalin said.