Rahul backs DMK's demand for burial space for MK

Congress on Tuesday backed the DMK's demand for burial space for former chief minister late M Karunanidhi on Chennai's Marina beach.

"Like Jayalalitha ji, Kalaignar was an expression of the voice of the Tamil people. That voice deserves to be given space on Marina Beach," Congress president Rahul Gandhi said even as the AIADMK government turned down the DMK's demand for Karunanidhi to be buried near the memorial of his mentor C N Annadurai.

"I am sure the current leaders of Tamil Nadu will be magnanimous in this time of grief," Rahul said on Twitter with a hashtag #Marina4Kalaignar.

Earlier, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had asked Tamil Nadu government not to play politics on the issue of burial ground for Karunanidhi.

"On such occasions, government and parties should be above politics. Kalaignar should be given his due. He deserves rightful place even after his demise," Azad told reporters in New Delhi.