Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

M.K. Azhagiri accorded a rousing reception

— Photo: K. Ganesan

Coming home: Union Minister M.K. Azhagiri waving to the crowd at the Madurai airport on Saturday. Minister A. Tamilarasi looks on.

MADURAI: It was celebration time for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadres of southern districts on Saturday.

After assuming office as the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, M.K. Azhagiri, the party’s south zone organising secretary, who arrived here at the airport, was accorded a rousing reception.

The large presence of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadres and the district functionaries from Dindigul to Kanyakumari showed that he was the undisputed leader in southern districts, party men said.

As the south zone organising secretary, Mr. Azhagiri played a vital role in the victory of the Democratic Progressive Alliance candidates in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections. “But for him (Azhagiri), we would not have won 9 out of 10 seats,” a few DMK district secretaries said. “Burying all our intra-party differences, we worked for the success of the alliance candidates as per the diktats of Mr. Azhagiri,” they added.

Party cadres from as far as Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Theni, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar and Dindigul lined up at the airport to have a glimpse of their “Anja Nenjan.” At a specially erected stage, Mr. Azhagiri received them for well over 90 minutes flanked by Ministers Thangam Thennarasu, KR. Periyakaruppan, A. Tamilarasi and Suba. Thangavelan and MLAs. Party men burst crackers en route to mark the arrival of the leader.

For the first time, Mr. Azhagiri, the Lok Sabha MP from Madurai has got a berth in the Union Cabinet.

Though in the mid-70s, Congress MP R. V. Swaminathan was a member of the Union Council of Ministers as Minister of State, the appointment of Mr. Azhagiri as Cabinet Minister had come as a morale booster for Madurai, party men said. It was all the more important for the DMK as Mr. Azhagiri’s victory was the first one for the party here, they added.

Mr. Azhagiri said that “this is just a beginning and I have five long years to go… I hope to bring in the much needed development to the people of Madurai and southern districts,” in a confident tone.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Appeal to pensioners
Proposal for TV sets submitted
Club to introduce children to pleasures of being with nature
Change in assessment of power usage
Three-month computer servicing course for youth
Kendriya Vidyalaya increases seats for Class XI
M.K. Azhagiri accorded a rousing reception
Water level
Azhagiri promises steps to establish major industries in southern districts
In Madurai Today

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu