Chennai, Jan 17 (UNI) Rich tributes were paid to former

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and ruling AIADMK Founder on

M G Ramachandran, popularly called as MGR, the occasion

of his 104th birth anniversary in the State on Sunday.

Party Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam

and Co-oordinator and CM Edappadi K Palaniswami garlanded

the statue of MGR and distributed sweets after hoisting the party

flag.

They also paid floral tributes to a decorated portrait of the late

leader.

Apart from Ministers, MLAs, MPS and party functionaries,

scores of party cadres thronged the AIADMK office in the

city and paid rich tributes to him.

Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Palaniswami also garlanded the

statue of late CM J Jayalalithaa at the party office and paid

rich tributes to her.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid rich tributes to MGR

and said the Bharat Ratna lives in the hearts of several people.

In a tweet posted both in English and Tamil, Mr Modi said

'Bharat Ratna MGR lives in the hearts of several people.

Be it the world of films or politics, he was widely respected.'

'During his CM tenures, he initiated numerous efforts towards

poverty alleviation and also emphasised on women empowerment.

Tributes to MGR on his Jayanti', he added.

Meanwhile, in an epistle to the party cadres to mark

the occasion, Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Palaniswami

said the AIADMK was a ‘movement for social change.’

The ensuing Assembly election will be the battle ground

to find an answer on which should prevail--whether a

genuine democracy that upholds the participation of all

and respects republicanism or a fake democracy that

“sacrifices people for power struggle” within a family.

They also urged the AIADMK cadres to remain vigilant so

that there would never be any occasion for the revival

of the DMK, which was “desperate to unleash the game of

violence.”

They also urged them to strive hard to ensure that the

party retains power for the third time in a row with

a massive win in the elections.

Terming their party as “a movement for social change,”

Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Palaniswami said the AIADMK

was “not just a political party.”

But, it had always been striving for all to get “equal

rights and equal opportunity” to lead their lives happily,

they said and recalled various welfare and revolutionary

measures launched by MGR, including the nutritious noon

meal scheme.

UNI GV 1645