DMK's General Secretary and one of the party's stalwarts who observed close ties with Karunanidhi and CN Annadurai, K Anbazhagan has passed away in the wee hours of Saturday at a private hospital in Chennai where he was receiving treatments for the prolonged illness. 

Anbazhagan, who has been called as 'Perasiriyar', was aged 97 and he has held the post of the party's general secretary for 43 years and was one of the notable faces who played vital roles in the rise of the Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu and beyond being a politician, he was one of the closest aides for the late leader and former Chief Minister Karunanidhi. 

After the demise of Karunanidhi, Anbazhagan kept his presence low at the political events and he was receiving treatments at his home in Kilpauk, Chennai for his illness. On February 24th, 2020, he was admitted at the Apollo Hospitals, Greams Road, Chennai and getting treatments for his age-related ailments since then. However, his health was deteriorating and despite the treatments, he has passed away at 1 am on Saturday.

Anbazhagan's body was taken from the hospital to his home in Kilpauk and kept for the public to pay homage. The ambulance that carried his body was escorted by dozens of vehicles as the senior party leaders including DMK President MK Stalin and party leaders have gathered at his residence to pay their last respect. In his statement, Stalin stated that Anbazhagan was a close friend of Karunanidhi.

Stalin also suspended all the party events as part of paying condolences to the deceased leader and he has asked the party leaders to fly the party's flag at half-mast for seven continuous days. 

Anbazhagan was born as Ramaiah in Kattoor in Tiruvarur district which was then mapped in Tanjore district on 19.12.1922 and he has a post-graduate degree in Tamil literature from Annamalai University. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly for nine times. During his tenure in the assembly, he served as a Finance Minister, Social Welfare and Education Minister. He was a Lok Sabha MP from 1967-1971 and in 1977, he was elected as DMK's General Secretary and he held that post till his death. The inauguration of unveiling Karunanidhi's statue at the party's headquarters Anna Arivalayam in Chennai last year was the last public event attended by Anbazhagan.