Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala governor P Sathasivam and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan Tuesday expressed grief over the death of DMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi.
Sathasivam in a message said Karunanidhi was a perfect blend of statesmanship and creativity.
"Each welfare measure he introduced as CM reflected a strong desire for social justice, urge to uplift the backward classes and downtrodden, and his unflinching faith in secularism and unmatched richness of Tamil heritage," the governor said.
"His is a loss beyond words," he added.
Vijayan said Karunanidhi was one of the greats of Indian politics, but his contributions were not limited to politics.
He was a man of letters who enriched the Tamil language with poems, novels, screenplays and plays, Vijayan said.
"The legacy of the great leader will live on," he said, extending his condolences to the bereaved family and people of Tamil Nadu.
State opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala was among those who expressed grief over the death.