M Karunanidhi: News

Muthuvel Karunanidhi, born in 1924 in Thirukkuvalai, near Thiruvarur, was a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He left his school at an early age to participate in anti-Brahmin, Dravidian campaigns led by Dalit activist Periyar. Karunanidhi was initially a screenwriter and contributed to several Tamil films in the 1950s and worked towards making his narratives the vehicle of his Dravidian beliefs. Karunanidhi led a lot of protests and campaigns during his younger days and was noticed by CN Annadurai, the founder of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), during one such protest. He successfully contested his first Assembly election in 1957 and was made Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly in 1962. After Annadurai’s death in 1969, Karunanidhi succeeded him as the Chief Minister, a position he held for four non-consecutive terms. Karunanidhi was a strong critic of his rival, AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa, on whom the DMK launched several attacks. He is famous for promising cheap rice and free television sets to his constituents before the 2006 Assembly elections, which DMK won. However, the party suffered a defeat in the 2011 polls. Karunanidhi died in 2018 after a prolonged illness.