Revamped Valluvar Kottam ready to host Tamil Nadu CM Stalin on June 21
CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin is expected to attend the first event to take place at the rejuvenated Valluvar Kottam, renovated and modernised at `80 crore, on June 21. Persons with disabilities will be thanking the CM for passing legislation ensuring their representation in all local bodies during the event.
The monument is not only an iconic landmark of Chennai today but also holds a significant place in the state's political history.
DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan said, 'It was our leader Kalaignar M Karunanidhi who himself drew the basic design of how Valluvar Kottam should look, after extensive consultation with Tamil scholars. After our party got re-elected to power in 1971, it became one of his ambitious projects.
He laid the foundation stone and personally oversaw its construction.' Amid the Emergency, Karunanidhi's government had announced a two-day inauguration ceremony for Valluvar Kottam on February 22 and 23, 1976. However, his government was dismissed on January 31 that year. Eventually, it was announced it would be inaugurated by the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on April 15, 1976.
Karunanidhi, who was not invited to the event, addressed his party cadre through a detailed letter published in 'Murasoli' on the same day. Titled 'Kottam Thirakkapadugirathu. Kuraloviyam Theettapadugirathu' (The Kottam is being opened. Kuraloviyam is being created), the letter likened the incident to how a mother would feel if she were not allowed to attend her own child's wedding. Also, the foundation stone he had laid was removed during the inauguration.
After a gap of 13 years, when the DMK won the election and Karunanidhi was set to become CM again in 1989, he chose Valluvar Kottam as the venue for his swearing-in ceremony.
Features of the renovated venue
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