Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's 20th death anniversary was observed in a simple ceremony at which an anti-terrorism pledge was taken, at his memorial in Sriperumbudur, 40 km from here, on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V.Thangkabalu read out the pledge.
Those who paid homage included Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan and former Union Ministers E.V.K.S. Elangovan and S. Thirunavukkarasar. A number of Congress leaders, including B.S. Gnanadesikan, MP, S. Peter Alphonse, D. Yasodha, C. Gnanasekaran, H. Vasanthakumar, S.Ve. Shekher, former MLAs, and M. Yuvaraja, State president of the Youth Congress, joined them.
Union Minister V. Narayanasamy, former Chief Minister of Puducherry V. Vaithilingam and Puducherry unit Congress president V.S. Radhakrishnan took part in the ceremony on behalf of the Puducherry Congress.
Mr. Thangkabalu, who garlanded a portrait of Rajiv Gandhi at Sathyamurthi Bhavan, the State headquarters of the party here, in the morning, received the torch brought by about 300 volunteers from Karnataka. It was received by K. H. Muniappa, Union Minister of State for Railways, in the afternoon, at Sriperumbudur. Similar torches were brought from Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
A blood donation camp was conducted at Sriperumbudur and poor feeding was also organised.
At Saidapet, former Deputy Mayor of the Chennai Corporation, ‘Karate' Thyagarajan, garlanded a statue of Rajiv Gandhi.
