PM Modi pays homage to DMK leader Karunanidhi in Chennai’s Rajaji hall

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid homage to veteran DMK leader M Karunanidhi in Chennai’s Rajaji hall of Chennai and consoled the family of the late leader.

After landing in Chennai, the PM took a helicopter to INS Adayar and headed to Rajaji hall by road.

Union defence minister Nirmala Seetharaman, TN Governor Banwarilal Purohit Tamil Nadu fisheries minister D Jayakumar, BJP state leader Tamilisai Sounderrarajan accompanied Modi to Rajaji hall.

The PM placed a wreath and met the family members of Karunanidhi in Rajaji hall. He consoled Karunaidhi’s wife Rajathi Ammal, his younger son and political heir Stalin and daughter M K Kanimozhi. Prime Minister Modi spent nearly 15 minutes in Rajaji hall.

Modi patted Stalin, the DMK’s working president, gently on the back in an apparent gesture of consoling him.

Earlier, the prime minister in his message had described the DMK chief as a prolific thinker and a deep-rooted mass leader who stood for regional aspiration and national progress. Karunanidhi died Tuesday evening at the age of 94.

First Published: Aug 08, 2018 14:01 IST