CHENNAI: Months before Tamil Nadu assembly polls, former IAS officer U Sagayam — known for his fight against illegal granite mining in Madurai — took the political plunge on Sunday ‘as per the wishes of his supporters’.
Speaking at his first political meeting in Adambakkam, Sagayam urged his followers to break the barriers of caste and religion in politics and shun the arrogance of power.
The officer, who got transferred 25 times in the first 27 years of his career, asked his followers to remain simple and honest like former CMs K Kamaraj and C N Annadurai and former minister Kakkan.
Sagayam: No need for hero-worship
To create a resurgent Tamil Nadu, your dedication, sacrifice and empathy are needed,” Sagayam told his supporters amid thunderous applause at a public meeting held in Chennai. Promising a new political culture, he asked them not to indulge in hero-worship.
He asked them to break the barriers of caste and religion and called them to love all people including farmers, weavers, fishermen, working -class, urban poor and to work for them.
In his hour-long speech, he reminisced several anecdotes about how he was victimised due to his honesty at various stages of his career including being transferred as Madurai district collector following his action against granite quarries.