Thursday (January 17, 2019) is the 102nd birth anniversary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M G Ramachandran and the matinee idol-turned-politician was remembered across Tamil Nadu with various events. While his birth centenary commemorative arch constructed near his memorial on the Marina beach front was unveiled without any pomp in view of a court directive, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam garlanded the statue of MGR at Dr MGR Medical University at Guindy. A special commemorative coin with the image of MGR was also released on the occasion.
At the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam headquarters at Avvai Shanmugam Salai at Royapettah, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam garlanded the statue of MGR and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and distributed sweets to party cadres, who had thronged in large numbers. MGR memorial at Marina and his residence at Ramapuram were thronged by people in large numbers. Those from far-off places including Salem, Dharmapuri, Kanyakumari, and Thoothukudi marched to Chennai to get the dharshan (as they say) of MGR at the place where he lived.
A popular star of Tamil cinema, MGR founded MGR after parting ways from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, following his dispute with DMK supremo and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
