In a letter to partymen, Karunanidhi said that ever since the AIADMK came to power, the statue, installed atop a small island in Kanyakumari, was getting affected due to the salty winds. His previous government had spent Rs 65 lakh on painting it with a special chemical coating to prevent damage.
He claimed that the statue, denoting 133 chapters of couplets written by the saint poet in his 'Thirukkural,' was being neglected as it was unveiled by him.
"I have asked DMK MPs to take up the matter in Parliament. We are also working out if we could do something for maintenance of the statue if the AIADMK Government does not come forward to do anything. We are mulling holding protests to draw the attention of the district administration," he said.
The DMK chief added his party would wait for some time to see if the government came forward to take up the maintenance work but added "we will take a decision," if it failed.
