Tirunelveli: The first part of ‘Ungalil Oruvan’, the autobiography of Chief Minister MK Stalin, will be released in Chennai on February 28 by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the presence of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah, and Bihar leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Stalin made the announcement while campaigning through videoconference in Tirunelveli on Thursday.
Addressing cadres and leaders of the DMK on the last day of campaigning for urban local body elections, the CM said, “Hearing the names of freedom fighters such as Pulithevan, Veera Pandiya Kattabomman, Veeran Sundaralingam, Veeran Azhagumuthukon, Mahakavi Bharathiyar, Kappalottiya Tamizhan VO Chidambaram Pillai (VOC) gives us a surge of patriotism and makes people of Tamil Nadu raise their heads with pride.”
However, during the Republic Day parade conducted recently, the tableau with the images of these leaders was not only rejected but questions were raised as to whether freedom fighter VOC was a businessman and whether Rani Velu Nachiyar was Rani of Jhansi, Stalin said.
“As Chief Minister I requested PM Modi who always speaks about Tamil and Tamil Nadu, to include the tableau in the R-Day parade but we were told that it was the decision of an expert committee. The tableau was later taken across the state and it gained global fame.”
The CM also listed out various historical incidents linked to Tirunelveli, such as the State Congress Conference of 1920 in which a resolution on class representation was first proposed by Periyar and VOC, and the arrest of DMK leader M Karunanidhi for anti-Hindi protest and his imprisonment in Palayamkottai jail. “The DMK government has achieved much more in the past eight months than what the AIADMK government achieved in the past 10 years.
Opposition leader Edappadi K Palaniswmai has been talking about law and order, but during their regime, six died in Paramakudi and 13 died in anti-Sterlite protests,” the CM said. The CM also pointed to the death of father and son in Sathankulam police custody, and other deaths, including the Pollachi incident, under the AIADMK regime. The State witnessed 100 murders in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi in a span of two months during AIADMK rule and the government did not take any action, Stalin said.
The CM also spoke in detail about the murders linked to J Jayalalithaa’s Kodanad estate and said Justice A Arumugasamy commission will bring out the truth in the death of the former CM. Stalin also spoke about the schemes and projects implemented in the State after his party assumed power including action taken on 2,29,216 petitions received before the Assembly election and Rs 497.32 crore pending pension being distributed to 2,457 employees.
The AIADMK government postponed local body elections fearing that DMK may win the election, but the DMK will win this election, the CM said. “I served my party even during my school days. I learnt policies, like many other youngsters, from great leaders like CN Annadurai, Periyar and Kalaignar Karunanidhi. I have recorded the incidents in my biography, Ungalil Oruvan.
Minister Durai Murugan will preside over the event and poet Vairamuthu and actor Sathyaraj will speak when the book is released in Chennai on February 28. “The first part of 23 years of my life journey till 1976 reminds me of the greatness of our party leaders, their policies, and the growth of our party through innumerable struggles,” the CM said.