MK statue: DMK wary of government approval

Chennai

Leaders of the principal opposition party say the approval is no guarantee that the ruling dispensation would allow the statue to come up as per plan.

“The civic body has given its nod and sent it to the government which should accord its approval. Let us wait,” a senior leader said, recalling the experience the party underwent during the burial of its leader on the Marina.

“If the ruling AIADMK does something like denying or even delaying permission, it will face the wrath of people like it did in August,” he remarked.

The party, meanwhile, is not perturbed by the conditional approval of the Corporation, which has stipulated that the statue should be removed from the OSR land, if, in future, the government intends to acquire the land for road widening purpose.

“It is routine to impose such conditions while sanctioning such requests. There is no reason to be worried about the condition of the approval. The real concern is the political motive of the ruling party,” a DMK MLA requesting anonymity said.

The DMK hopes to unveil the 8 feet statue being sculpted by Deenadayalan at Minjur near here in the middle of November.

Sonia could depute Rahul for statue unveiling

The party hopes to get Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to unveil the statue. However, if sources are to be believed, she could depute her son and incumbent party president Rahul Gandhi or former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to attend the event.

DMK had earlier sought the appointment of Sonia for the statue unveiling after Rahul hinted at the possibility of his mother attending the event to one of the DMK Rajya Sabha MPs recently. Congress leaders in the know of things said the visit would also help Rahul cement its ties with the DMK, which has reiterated its commitment to be a part of a secular front in the ensuing Lok Sabha election.

Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram had earlier confirmed the continuance of the DMK-Congress alliance by publicly announcing that the two parties would work together in the next LS election.