The Prime Minister paid rich tributes to Ramaswamy, considered close to Modi since his early days as the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Modi, who greeted the audience in Tamil at the start of his address, besides extending his Pongal wishes in the same language, said Ramaswamy was one of the best multi-faceted personalities he had ever come across and hailed his role as a journalist, an actor, a lawyer and a political commentator, among others.
Though he donned many hats, Ramaswamy's role as the Editor of Thuglaq was the "jewel in his crown," he said.
It was not very easy to understand Ramaswamy and to do this, one had to understand his courage, conviction and sense of nationalism, "which went beyond parochial wisdom, linguistic and other divisions," the Prime Minister said.
He said even bitter critics of Ramaswamy found equal prominence in Thuglaq magazine even as he made the magazine "a weapon against all divisive forces."
"He was fighting for a clean and non-corrupt political system and in that struggle he never spared anyone. He was critical of those people with whom he had acted for decades, critical of those people who were friends with him for decades and critical of those who considered him a mentor. None was spared. He did not look at the personalities, but at the issues," Modi said.
Ramaswamy's satire made him lovable even to those whom he criticised and that was not a cultivated or cultivable virtue, but a "gift from the divine" which Ramaswamy used only to promote public interest, the Prime Minister said.
"Even those who criticised him were given the same prominence like that of Cho in Thuglaq. This is the truest democratic spirit in media and in public life. His thoughts and contributions are not limited to Tamil milieu and Tamil people. He inspired many generations of aspiring journalists and politicians spanning many cities in India. Thuglaq was not a mere political commentary but ears and eyes of millions of Tamil people," he said.
He also said Ramaswamy had once asked someone throwing eggs at him why he was hurling raw eggs and that he could instead make him an omelette.