Jaya condoles Kalimuthu's death, announces 3-day mourning

Chennai, Nov 8 (UNI) Expressing profound grief over the death of party Presidium Chairman and former Assembly Speaker K Kalimuthu, AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today announced the party would observe a three-day mourning as a mark of tribute to him.

Recalling that Mr Kalimuthu strived for the growth of the AIADMK till his last breath, she said his demise was an irreparable loss to the party.

As a Tamil scholar, he dedicated his entire life to the language.

For those who acted against the Tamil community, he was like Goddess 'Kali' and for Tamil scholars and literary persons, he remained a 'muthu' (pearl), she said in a condolence message here.

Mr Kalimuthu discharged his duties as state Minister and Assembly Speaker in an exemplary manner during the tenure of AIADMK Government, she recalled.

Expressing her condolences to bereaved family members, Ms Jayalalithaa said the party flag would fly at half-mast for three days from today in Tamil Nadu and also in other states, including Pondicherry, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

All party programmes and public meetings had been cancelled for three days, she added.

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