CHENNAI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth was a self-made person and his passing away is a big loss for Tamil politics.
The minister, who paid tribute to Vijayakanth here, said the late leader, who was chief of DMDK, had a huge following.
“I’ve come here to pay respects on behalf of the central government and the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vijayakanth who was a very important leader in Tamil politics. Capt. Vijaykanth was known as the most humane political leader…He had a huge following, like you can see it here. He was a self-made person. Everything he earned, everything he spent was publically acquired by him, with his efforts, he was a very upright person to that extent. And whatever he spent for the welfare of the poor was all his own earnings,” Sitharaman said.
“He changed the practice which existed…in that he treated who worked for him as equal. What he ate, what he sat on, were all the same things that he gave to others as well. He didn’t treat people differently because they were doing different jobs. That was the trait and quality of this leader and that’s why today you find that …crores of people standing in line to pay their last respects to him. Yesterday, I was told the lines extended to 9-10 kms…It is a great loss for Tamil politics,” she added.
Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai also paid his respects to the departed leader.
Vijayakanth, who founded DMDK, passed away in Chennai at the age of 71, after testing positive for COVID-19.
Widely known as ‘Captain’, Vijayakanth’s life was marked by a successful career in the Tamil film industry. He appeared in 154 movies before venturing into politics. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly twice, representing the Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam constituencies. (ANI)