Tamil Nadu CM thanks Rawat for taking steps to install poet's statue

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on friday thanked her Uttarakhand counterpart Harish Rawat for taking steps to install the statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar in his state, calling it a "positive action."

"I am grateful that you have responded speedily and positively to the outpouring of sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu on this sensitive issue.

"I am happy to learn that you have arranged for the installation of the statue of Thiruvalluvar in the premises of Mela Bhavan in Haridwar. On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu, I thank you for your prompt and positive action," she told Rawat in a letter.

The AIADMK Supremo told Rawat that the issue had been causing "considerable disquiet in Tamil Nadu," and that she had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter.

Political parties in Tamil Nadu had expressed concern over the statue of the saint poet reportedly lying wrapped in a park in Haridwar after efforts by BJP MP Tarun Vijay to install it on the banks of river Ganga failed allegedly due to protests from local sadhus.

Several parties in Tamil Nadu had sought the intervention of the Tamil Nadu government in solving the row.