Veteran DMK leader K Anbazhagan passed away here on Saturday following a brief illness, the party said. Anbazhagan (97), the seniormost DMK leader and a close friend of late party patriarch M Karunanidhi, was not keeping well for some time due to age-related ailments and was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on February 24 after his health conditions deteriorated, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin said.
A nine-time MLA, Anbazhagan was the party’s general secretary for 43 years. He had been staying away from active politics for some time due to his illness.
In a statement, Stalin said Anbazhagan passed away at 1 am and party flags would fly at half mast for seven days.All the DMK programmes were postponed for a week, he added.
Known as “Perasiriyar” (professor) in the DMK circles, Anbazhagan had served as the Tamil Nadu finance minister and minister of public welfare.