Rain dampens Thevar Jayanthi celebration

Rain dampens Thevar Jayanthi celebration

31st October 2019 0 By Mathias Stephen
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Rain dampens Thevar Jayanthi celebration

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam pay homage to the statue of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar at Goripalayam in Madurai on Wednesday.

CM, Stalin pay their respects to freedom fighter statue at Goripalayam junction

Even as leaders of political parties queued up to pay their respect to the statue of freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar on his 112 birth anniversary and 57th death anniversary here on Wednesday, rain dampened the celebrations with a thin crowd turning up at the Goripalayam junction.

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and their cabinet colleagues were the first to garland the statue amidst drizzle. The Chief Minister later paid floral tributes to the leader’s portrait down the pedestal.

DMK president M.K. Stalin garlanded the statue along with his party office-bearers. MDMK leader Vaiko, BJP leader Pon. Radhakrishnan and AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran were among those who garlanded the statue.

The incessant drizzle and intermittent shower since Tuesday night forced the usual crowd to stay indoors. However, hundreds of men and women braced the showers and came in procession with milk pots and sprouts from various parts of the city to offer their prayers on the occasion of guru puja.

With less crowd at the junction, the city police, who had earlier announced diversion of traffic to avoid the junction, allowed all vehicles through the junction.

The city police heaved a sigh of relief with the incessant rain as a few Thevar outfits had called for a day-long dharna at Goripalayam junction demanding naming of Madurai airport after the freedom fighter.

With the rain, the protesters led by Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam leader G.M. Sridhar Vandaiyar, former MLA P.V. Kathiravan of the All India Forward Bloc and South India Forward Bloc leader K.C. Tirumaran staged a brief protest near the statue before moving into a nearby shopping complex. After briefing their supporters about the protest, they left the junction.

Several shops close to Thevar statue at Goripalayam junction remained closed for the day.

Commissioner of Police S. Davidson Devasirvatham supervised the huge deployment of police personnel at various places in the city.


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