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Leaders pay homage to Rajiv Gandhi

By Our Staff Reporter

KANCHEEPURAM MAY 21 . Hundreds of Congress partymen and members of the public paid floral tribute and offered prayers at the Rajiv Gandhi memorial at Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram district today to mark the 12th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister, who was assassinated at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

The TNCC president, S. Balakrishnan, the working president, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, and the former Union Ministers, Dhanushkodi Adithan and M. Arunachalam, placed a big wreath at the memorial.

Later, the former TNCC president and former Union Minister, K.V. Thangkabalu, and a number of Congressmen, including Era. Anbarasu, offered prayers.

Youth Congressmen from several parts of the State and other parts of the country including from Karnataka and New Delhi brought `jothis' and holy water from the Ganga to the memorial. Mr. Balakrishnan received Ganga water brought by Rajinder Dubey, national president, All-India Rajiv Gandhi Brigade, from New Delhi. He brought the water via Amethi, Allahabad, Bhopal, Mumbai, Nagpur, Warangal, Vijayawada and Chennai in the `Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhawana yatra', which was flagged off by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, on April 26.

An all-religious prayer was held on the memorial campus and welfare assistance was distributed to the memorial staff.

A blood donation camp was organised by the Tamil Nadu Youth Congress.

A large number of Congressmen, led by E.M. Sudarsana Nachiappan, MP and State president, human rights wing, observed fast at the memorial urging the Government to delegate more powers to local bodies and requested the State Government to withdraw the power tariff hike.

Partymen also took an `anti-terrorism day' pledge, read out by Mr. Balakrishnan.

Our Chennai Special Correspondent reports:

The 12th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi was commemorated with State and Central Government staff members taking an anti-terrorism pledge and political leaders paying floral homage to his portrait.

At the Secretariat in Chennai, the PWD Minister, O. Paneerselvam, administered the pledge to his Ministerial colleagues, senior officials and staff, on the Parade grounds. In Central Government offices and undertakings, including the Port Trust, the staff took the anti-terrorism pledge.

Congress functionaries and workers thronged the party headquarters, Sathyamurthy Bhavan in Chennai, to pay floral tributes to the portrait of their slain leader.

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