TAMIL NADU CM EDAPPADI PALANISWAMI URGES PM MODI TO CONFER BHARAT RATNA ON JAYALALITHAA

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the central government to confer the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award on former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa and Dravidian icon CN Annadurai.

The Bharat Ratna "would be the most fitting way to recognise the extraordinary public service, phenomenal achievements and the remarkable life of one of the most influential political leaders of independent India," Palaniswami wrote in the letter to Modi.

Palaniswami has also requested PM Modi to rename the Chennai Central railway station after AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran. These decisions were taken during the cabinet meeting held on Sunday. The cabinet has also recommended the release of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's killers.

Jayalalithaa was politically independent, astute and diplomatic as a leader – who kept the state free of communal problems, Palaniswami wrote.