COIMBATORE: Asserting that over 99 per cent of the work on Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore had been completed during the previous DMK regime, party president MK Stalin on Wednesday took a swipe at the TVK government, saying that the project could otherwise have faced closure.

“Fortunately, 99.75 per cent of the work on Periyar Arivulagam had been completed during the DMK regime. Had it been left halfway, it would not have been surprising if the present government had shut it down,” he told reporters during a visit to the facility.

Stalin also expressed hope that other library projects initiated by the DMK government would be completed and opened to the public. He referred to the ongoing works on libraries named after freedom fighter Quaid-e-Millath in Tirunelveli and former Chief Minister K Kamaraj in Tiruchy.

Highlighting the DMK's initiatives to create landmark public libraries, he recalled the establishment of the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai during the tenure of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and the Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai.

Accompanied by Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani, Stalin toured various sections of Periyar Arivulagam and urged youngsters and students to learn about social reformer Periyar's ideals and the principles of the Dravidian movement. "Youth should understand the Dravidian movement, Periyar's thoughts and his vision for society, and broaden their knowledge," he said.