‘Captain’ Vijayakanth laid to rest with full state honours; ‘will fulfill our leader’s dreams’, says wife Premalatha

The final procession started from the Island Grounds to the party office amid a sea of public who gathered to catch one last glimpse of their beloved leader.

Chief Minister M K Stalin reached the DMDK office and took part in the funeral. Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan and leaders of various other political parties, including former chief minister O Panneerselvam, AIADMK leader D Jayakumar, BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan and Tamil Maanila Congress leader G K Vasan also participated in the final rites of Captain who died on Thursday morning at a private hospital in the city due to prolonged illness.

His body was initially brought to his residence and later taken to the party office at Koyambedu on Thursday. Due to space constraints and in anticipation of a large gathering of people, the mortal remains of Vijayakanth was shifted to the Island Grounds and later brought back to the DMDK headquarters on Friday.

Since Thursday morning, a huge stream of DMDK party cadres, Vijayakanth’s fans and people in general have been coming to pay their last respects. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and various other politicians, actors Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and a host of numerous celebrities also paid their homage to Captain.

While addressing the DMDK cadres who gathered outside the party office, Premalatha Vijayakanth, wife of Vijayakanth and general secretary of the DMDK, said that this is the first time that Tamil Nadu has seen such an emotional farewell in its history.

She thanked Stalin, Chennai Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan and the police for making all the arrangements for the funeral in the best possible manner.

“From the Island Grounds to our party headquarters, it is about 14 kilometre and it took us three hours to reach. On behalf of the DMDK, I thank all those who had gathered to pay their respect to Captain. As per the data we received, in the last two days, over 15 lakh people had participated in the funeral procession. The people showered flowers. It’s a testament to Captain’s virtuous thoughts, the righteous deeds he performed and his compassionate nature. We will together take a vow to fulfill our leader’s dream and dedicate the victory to him,” she said.

“He has not gone anywhere. He lives within us. His soul may have reached the heavens but he will keep blessing us from there. He is a Dharmavan,” an emotional Premalatha added.

The DMDK general secretary further noted that similar to the memorials of other political leaders in the state at the beach road in the city, they will construct a memorial for Vijayakanth at the party office and it will be maintained like a temple for his fans and cadres.