Political leaders in Tamil Nadu condoled the death of veteran DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan who died in the wee hours on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, in a statement, said Anbazhagan was interested in politics from his youth days and was a close confidante of DMK's late President M Karunanidhi.

Anbazhagan played an important role in DMK since its formation and was elected to the state Assembly nine times. Anbazhagan performed very well as a minister and a Lok Sabha member said Palaniswami.

According to him, Anbazhagan was a multi-faceted personality who had donned and excelled in the roles of a politician, Speaker, reformist, writer and trade unionist.

"One of the senior-most political leaders in Tamil Nadu, Anbazhagan was into politics from his student days. He was instrumental in bringing many educated persons into politics," PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said.

According to MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, departed Anbazhagan was always with late President of DMK M. Karunanidhi during the party's testing times.

Anbazhagan will be immortal in the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu, Vaiko said and added that his party's flag will fly half-mast for three days as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

Actor-turned-politician and the founder of MNM party Kamal Haasan also condoled Anbazhagan's death.