CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday condoled the demise of linguistic martyr and former DMK MP Venugopal and said that his death was a great loss to the party and the people of Tiruvannamalai.

Raised in the workshop of the Dravidian movement with strong Tamil race and linguistic fervour, Venugopal had served as an MLA twice and Parliamentarian on five instances. He owns the pride of winning by the maximum margin in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Stalin said.

Fondly recalling the distribution of the Thanthai Periyar award to him during the mupperum vizha at Tiruvannamalai in 2019, the Chief Minister said that Venugopal who had participated in the various 'battles' to defend mother Tamil had also served as district presidium chairman of the party for 40 years.

The Chief Minister offered his condolences to the bereaved family members and party workers mourning his loss.