TN CM Palaniswami conferred doctorate by varsity

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami was conferred an honorary doctorate by a deemed university here on Sunday. Palaniswami was conferred the "Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa)," at the 28th convocation of the Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute.

This is the first honorary doctorate received by Palaniswami, who became chief minister in 2017. Late chief ministers M G Ramachandran, J Jayalalithaa, and M Karunanidhi had been conferred multiple honorary doctorates by various universities.

University founder chancellor, A C Shanmugam, a former MP and an MLA, said this was the first time the varsity conferred a honorary doctorate on a Chief Minister. Shanmugam is also the founder leader of Puthiya Neethi Katchi, which is an ally of the ruling AIADMK.

He had unsuccessfully contested the recent Vellore Lok Sabha election on the ruling party's Two-Leaves symbol, losing to the DMK nominee.