Karunanidhi Lying in Anna Memorial Because of Alms Given by Us, Says AIADMK Minister

New Delhi: An AIADMK minister has stirred a controversy by boasting that the burial site of late chief minister and DMK patriarch Karunanidhi was because of “alms” given by his party.

AIADMK Information and Technology Minister Kadambur Raju was caught on camera saying, “Even when the High Court directed to give land at Anna Memorial, we chose not to appeal, due to our generosity. If Karunanidhi is lying in Anna Memorial, it is only because of the alms given by us to them”.

The DMK, however, blamed it on the leader’s “pettiness” and said it was the Madras High Court which gave them permission to bury Karunanidhi at Marina beach.

“Remarks made by the minister show his pettiness. He is not suitable to be called a leader. It is not AIADMK, rather Court which granted us permission,” said DMK leader Durai Murugan.

Raju, who was speaking at a public meeting in Kovilpatti in Thoothukudi district, also said that the AIADMK government offered the DMK land to bury Karunanidhi, even though he was not a serving chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

"We offered land to Karunanidhi despite the fact that he was not the present chief minister of the state. We didn't even appeal against the Madras High Court verdict as well. Karunanidhi got a land at the Marina Beach only because of the generosity shown by the AIADMK government," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Karunanidhi, who was Tamil Nadu's longest-serving chief minister, died on August 7 at a private hospital in Chennai after prolonged illness.

After the announcement of Karunanidhi's death, the AIADMK government issued a statement refusing a burial space at Marina. The DMK's legal team approached the Madras High Court late at night and won the case the next day.

Speaking at the DMK's executive meeting, son Stalin said had the case been lost, a situation would have arisen leading to his own burial next to Karunanidhi.