The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu announced contributing one month’s salary of its Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) towards the relief activities associated with the cyclone Gaja.

“The cyclone and rain have severely affected people’s lives. To retrieve them from the unprecedented damage, a sum of Rs 1 cr will be provided from the DMK Trust,” said the party president MK Stalin.

His party’s contribution was aimed at aiding the relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

While the DMK has no Lok Sabha MPs, it has four members in the Rajya Sabha.

Its strength in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly now stands at 88 following the demise of its then party chief M Karunanidhi in August this year.

Cyclone ‘Gaja’, which had crossed Tamil Nadu coast last Friday between Nagapattinam and nearby Vedaranyam, has so far claimed 45 lives and left a trail of destruction, uprooting 1.7 lakh trees and damaging 88,102 hectares of agricultural land in the affected districts.

It has caused severe damage in the districts of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in neighbouring Puducherry.

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