The row over the allotment of space on the Marina for the burial of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has rekindled memories of how Mr. Karunanidhi, as Chief Minister, had handled the issue of building memorials for two stalwarts of the State — Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari) and K. Kamaraj.
On Wednesday, when the Madras High Court heard a petition on the issue, the government pointed out that the Marina was not allocated to Rajaji and Kamaraj — both former Chief Ministers.
Rajaji died in December 1972 and Kamaraj in October 1975. Both were products of the national movement. The former’s party, Swatantra, was briefly an ally of the DMK.
Recalling the events that followed Rajaji’s death, C.R. Kesavan, his great grandson and author of a biography of the late leader, said Rajaji was cremated as per his wishes.
H.V. Hande, who was leader of the Swatantra party in the Assembly during 1971-76, said no demand was made for earmarking space on the Marina. After the cremation was over, “the request that we made to Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) was to have a ‘manimandapam’ to preserve the memory of Rajaji. To be fair to him, Mr. Karunanidhi immediately accepted our demand.”
But in respect of Kamaraj, a specific demand was made for allotting space on the Marina, Tindivanam K. Ramamurthee, State general secretary of the Congress (Organisation), which was led by Kamaraj, said. “Pazha Nedumaran, Kannadasan and Jayakanthan were very firm on this demand,” he said.
However, Mr. Karunanidhi did not accede to the demand on the ground that it was becoming difficult even to maintain the memorial of former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai on the Marina, given its proximity to the sea. “No” was his reply to a question whether Mr. Karunanidhi had cited any rule stating that the Marina was meant for those Chief Ministers who died in office. A. Gopanna, TNCC spokesperson and author of an elaborate Tamil publication on Kamaraj, said Mr. Karunanidhi had convinced Congress (O) leaders of the selection of the site, which was on the western end of the Gandhi Mandapam campus, before the cremation of Kamaraj.
Mr. Ramamurthee said K. Rajaram Naidu, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, was first persuaded by Mr. Karunanidhi to accept the Gandhi Mandapam site. Rajaram, in turn, told his colleagues to accept the proposal so that there was no unpleasant feeling among them over the issue.
Gokula Indira, spokesperson of the AIADMK, asserted that legal hurdles that prevailed till Tuesday were behind the government’s decision not to allot space on the Marina for Mr. Karunanidhi.
