Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, or Anna as everyone in Tamil Nadu still knows him, was born on September 15, 1909 in Kanchipuram

Galleries

Remembering Anna: 15 reasons why the former CM will always tower over Tamil Nadu politics

On the birth anniversary of one of Tamil Nadu's most impressionable and iconic politicians, Annadurai aka Anna, we examine reasons why people still remember his name and why the young ought to understand what he stood for

Johanna Deeksha

Published:3rd Feb, 2020 at 3:51 PM

His parents were Natarajan, a weaver and Bangaru Ammal. He was married at the age of 21 to Rani. Since the couple was childless, they adopted his sister's grandchildren

Contrary to perception, he was in office very briefly. He served as the fifth and last Chief Minister of Madras between 1967-1969 when the name was changed to Tamil Nadu

He served as the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for about 20 days in 1969. He died on February 3, 1969 of cancer while in office

After his fallout with Periyar, Anna set up DMK in 1949. Anna appealed to urban lower, lower middle class and working classes, students, Dalits and lower castes and also fought for social justice

Anna's many landmark decisions include the legalisation of self-respect marriage, a concept invented by Periyar, his mentor

Interestingly, he was the first to use subsidising of the price of rice for the sake of an election victory.

He was the first one to promise the 'one rupee a measure of rice' freebie during elections, which he initially implemented once in government

He had to withdraw it later. Former CM M Karunanidhi introduced it again decades later and it continues to be a popular election promise even today

'It is claimed that Hindi should be the common language because it is spoken by the majority. Why should we then claim the tiger as our national animal instead of the rat which is so more numerous?'

Even as we to battle Hindi imposition every now and then, Anna continues to be a symbol of resistance. He was, in fact, the first to bring in the two-language policy in the state

Anna's party was also the first non-Congress to win an election with a full majority. He was initially a member of the Justice Party

The central parties have always struggled to get a foothold in the state every since and have only won seats when in collaboration with DMK or AIADMK

Selig Harrison, a US-based analyst of South Asian and East Asian politics and journalism once said, 'There is no doubt that this powerful orator is the single-most popular mass figure in the region'

Anna's funeral broke into the Guinness Book of Records with a record of 15 million people turning up, the largest the world has ever seen to date