President Ram Nath Kovind has said the Madras Legislative Council has been the fountainhead of several progressive legislations.<br />''<br />'' Participating in the Centenary Celebrations of the Madras Legislative Council in Chennai last evening, he said, many legislations passed in the house have been replicated across the country to empower the weaker sections of society and strengthen democracy.<br />''<br />''In the function, President Kovind unveiled the portrait of the five-time Chief Minister and the late DMK Chief Dr. M. Karunanidhi in the Assembly. He praised the contributions made by M. Karunanidhi  to further the cause of Tamil language and the state of Tamil Nadu. AIR correspondent reports, President Ram Nath Kovind said the State Legislature body can rightly be credited with nurturing the roots of democracy by focusing on rational governance to uplift the poor and purge social evils.<br />''<br />''Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K . Stalin said, the house has passed several progressive legislations that empowered the women, the poor and the marginalized. The Assembly Speaker M. Appavu noted that the legislative body has served many parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Kerala and some parts of Odisha before the reorganization of states on linguistic basis. He underscored that the Assembly has served as the parental House for the Assemblies of many neighbouring states. President Kovind is slated to address the tri-service officers who are undergoing training in the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington near Ooty, the hill resort town on Wednesday.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #000000;">Earlier, President Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Chennai on a five-day official visit to Tamil Nadu. He was received at the Airport by the State Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and senior officials.</span><br />