Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin thanked the children of Little Flower convent in Chennai for their love and affection when he visited them on the eve of his 70th birthday.
He said that he had been celebrating his birthdays since 1984 with the children and sisters of the convent and that he had been visiting them the previous day of late because he could find more time to spend with them and watch their cultural programmes.
Thanking them for mentioning the achievement of his government in the past 22 months in their cultural programmes and he said that he wished that he could have done more to earn their accolades.
Stalin said that he had been visiting the convent as an MLA, Chennai Mayor, State Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and as Chief Minister and that whatever was his official position, the visit always gave him happiness and satisfaction.
Most of the top IAS officers, including Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu, met the Chief Minister and greeted him on his birthday on Tuesday.
He would be starting Wednesday with a visit to the memorial of C N Annadurai at 7 am to pay floral tribute and then place a wreath at the resting place of his father and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, before driving down to the memorial of Periyar E V Ramasamy.
At 8.30 am he would reach Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters to receive the greeting of party leaders, functionaries, workers and cadre, besides the common people.
Later in the day, at 5 pm, a public meeting will be held at the YMCA ground in Nandanam, which could be the beginning of a nation-wide political alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Among those participating in the meeting are Congress president Maligarjun Kharge, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akilesh Yadav and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejeshwi Yadav.
The line of the national opposition leaders could pave the way for the emergence of a united political force in the country rather than be an occasion for just personal bonhomie. For, Stalin himself had said that he did not want a flashy celebration.
