Chennai, Aug 7: Following the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, the state government on Tuesday said school and colleges will remain closed tomorrow. The state government declared a public holiday for tomorrow as well as a seven-day mourning. The central government has announced to accord state funeral to Karunanidhi who was in public life for 80 long years. He died on Tuesday evening after a prolonged illness.

"With deep anguish, we announce the demise of our beloved Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi at 6:10 pm. Despite the best possible efforts by a team of doctors and nurses to resuscitate him, he failed to respond. We profoundly mourned the loss of one of the tallest leaders of India and we share the grief of family members and fellow Tamilians worldwide," said a statement from Kauvery Hospital.

The news of the 94-year-old mass leader's death cast a pall of gloom across the sprawling state which he had enticed all his political career through powerful oratory and script writing that changed the course of politics and the way Tamil cinema was made and helped the DMK's growth. He was just 14 when be became a student activist. Men and women, who had been praying for their leader's recovery, wailed outside the hospital as news of his death broke.

Karunanidhi leaves two wives -- Dayalu and Rajathi, three sons including DMK Working President M.K. Stalin and former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri, daughter Kanimozhi (MP) and several grandchildren. The DMK patriarch had been in and out of hospital on account of age-related ailments. His admission to the Kauvery Hospital early on July 28 followed a sudden dip in blood pressure. (With agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 07, 2018 11:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).