Anna's Birth cenetenary celebrated in Tamil Nadu

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abhisakthi

18 September, 2009

The birth centenary of DMK founder Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, or Anna as he is fondly called, was celebrated with much fanfare in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. The former CM was well known for the reforms he brought to the state.

TAMIL NADU was in a festive mood on Tuesday (September 15), celebrating the 100^th birth anniversary of the DMK founder Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai. Anna, as he was fondly called, was the former Chief Minister of the state as well as an able politician.

All district headquarters and government offices joined the celebrations. They garlanded his statues and pictures and placed DMK and ADMK flags on it. Songs praising Anna, the changes he brought about in southern politics and his reign could be heard from every corner.

Born in weaver’s family in Kanchipuram on September 15, 1909, Anna was well known for his writing skills in both Tamil and English, apart from his revolutionary plays like ‘Velaikari’. He was a follower of Dravidar Kazagham founder Periyar EV Ramasamy but broke away from him to form the DMK.

In 1957, his party won 15 MLA seats in the state, while in 1967, his party won a landslide victory. The cabinet chosen by him for the state, was the youngest at that time in India. He brought a lot of reforms to Tamil Nadu which included, legalisation of self-respect marriages, a two language policy and changing the name of Madras to Tamil Nadu.

A staunch believer of secularism, he ordered the removal of religious symbols, including the pictures of Gods and Goddesses from government offices.

However, he died just after two years in office, due to cancer. An estimated 15 million people attended his funeral and the spot where his mortal remains were buried, is now called Anna's Square.

The party divided into two factions after his death, one of them led by MG Ramachandran, who renamed his faction Anna DMK. Now, Anna’s legacy is carried on by the two main parties in Tamil Nadu politics – DMK, led by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and the other, AIADMK led by his rival, opposition leader J Jayalalitha.

During the centenary celebrations, Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee released the new five rupee coins, which bear Anna's likeness on one side. These coins will be received by Karunanidhi in a few days.

The CM promised the people of the state, a hike in the pension of freedom-fighters; from Rs 4,000 a month to Rs 5,000. Jayalalitha, also celebrated the event by releasing a special booklet on the leader. In Kanyakumari district, some DMK partymen created a model of Anna’s face on the beach.