A statue of former DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi will be unveiled in Chennai and a number of national-level leaders of various political parties are expected to attend the function to unveil the life-size statue on December 16. As per sources, Actor and politician Rajinikanth has agreed to participate in the statue unveiling ceremony. DMK has invited both Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan for the event since both the leaders were close to M Karunanidhi.

The DMK has also invited the leaders of the Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, TDP, Janata Dal (Secular), Nationalist Congress Party, Telugu Rashtriya Samiti and Aam Admi Party for the ceremony at its headquarters — Anna Arivalyam. It will be the second platform for uniting the opposition parties to take on the BJP.

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Meanwhile, the statue of Karunanidhi will be located alongside a refurbished statue of DMK founder and late chief minister CN Annadurai at the party headquarters.

“A life-size statue of Dr Kalaignar will be unveiled by all India leaders,” the party statement read without elaborating further.

Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the towering Dravidian icon whose intellectual prowess and pragmatism shaped the political narrative in Tamil Nadu over the past few decades, has died at the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai. Muthuvel Karunanidhi was one of the most prominent politicians in the country. Kalaignar, as he was fondly known as, served as Tamil Nadu CM for numerous years, on the Opposition for just as many, and had an influence in the state which few other leaders can match up to. He had been active in politics since 1957, and won 13 straight assembly elections, including to the Tiruvarur seat in 2016.

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