Madurai
Garlands, statues and politics go hand in hand in Tamil Nadu and the annual event of garlanding the statue of freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar on his birth anniversary on Tuesday by leaders of various political parties was no different.
Minutes before the motorcade of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami could arrive at the Goripalayam junction, frantic efforts were made by officials to somehow hide the plaque carrying the name of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on the huge pedestal.
The plaque was installed in 1974 when the statue was unveiled by the then President of India V.V. Giri in the presence Karunanidhi.
Workers, who were decorating the pedestal with strings of jasmine flowers, initially tried to hide the plaque with a piece of cloth. However, when an official asked to remove the cloth, a few more strings of flowers were added to the decoration so that the name of Karunanidhi was partially covered.
Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam arrived at the scene around 7 a.m.
They climbed up the stainless steel staircase to reach the eight-foot-tall life-size statue. A staff member from District Public Relations Office helped them garland the statue.
However, the officials could do very little as the ‘Rising Sun’ by then had come out from the horizon and its bright backlight tested the skill of photographers of various media houses in clicking the leaders paying respects to the leader.
As they left the spot, instruction came to the police officials at the statue venue to ensure that the huge rose garlands adorned by the CM and Deputy CM were not removed during the course of the day when hundreds queue up to garland the statue.
“Let other garlands that are garlanded (during the course of the day) be removed from time to time. But not those two,” a police officer said.