Veteran Gandhian and former Tamil Nadu Congress chief Kumari Ananthan.
Credit: X/@srinu1966
Chennai: Veteran Gandhian and former Tamil Nadu Congress chief Kumari Ananthan was on Thursday chosen for the fourth edition of the ‘Thagaisal Tamizhar’ (Eminent Tamil) award instituted by the DMK dispensation after it came to power in 2021.
91-year-old Ananthan, also the father of former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and uncle of Kanyakumari Congress MP Vijay Vasanth, will be presented the award carrying a citation and Rs 10 lakh cash prize by Chief Minister M K Stalin on August 15 on the occasion of Independence Day.
Veteran Communist leaders N Sankaraiah, and R Nallakannu, and Dravida Kazhagam (DK) chief K Veeramani were chosen for the award in 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. The award was instituted by Stalin in July 2021 after he assumed office as Chief Minister to honour “extraordinary” Tamils who have gone out of their way to help people and bring about a change in society.
“It has been decided by the high-level committee (constituted to choose the winner) to present the Thagaisal Tamizhar Award-2024 to Kumari Ananthan who entered public life at a young age and served Tamil Nadu as MP and MLA. A literary personality, Ananthan also headed the Gandhi Forum,” a government statement said.
Ananthan, who joined politics having been inspired by the late K Kamaraj, is a Gandhian and lives a frugal life. He has had differences with the Congress party in the past and floated his outfit more than once only to end up with the parent outfit. Ananthan also served as the chief of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC).