Karunanidhi: 5 facts about Kalaignar, the sun of DMK
DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi passed away on Tuesday at Chennai's Kauvery Hospital, sending his sea of followers across the country in deep mourning. The 94-year-old political stalwart is credited for making the Dravidian movement popular, opening Tamil Nadu's doors to IT, and fighting for social injustice. Here we look at five lesser known facts about the Kalaignar.
Karunanidhi's first script was for MGR's movie
Karunanidhi was known for evoking sentiments through his pen. He started his screenwriting career with the movie 'Rajakumari', which released in 1947 and featured MG Ramchandran. Later, MGR became a political foe whom Karunanidhi wasn't able to vanquish. Karunanidhi tried making his son MK Muthu, an alternative to MGR, but failed. It was only after MGR's death in 1989, that Karunanidhi returned to power.
Once Jayalalithaa got Karunanidhi arrested in a midnight raid
DMK and AIADMK, the two poles of Tamil Nadu politics, didn't lose a chance to slap cases on each other. Corruption charges against Jayalalithaa were filed on Karunanidhi's orders, and the former also returned the favor. Once, in a midnight raid, Karunanidhi was arrested on the AIADMK leader's directions, and even manhandled. Power in the state juggled between AIADMK and DMK for years.
Karunanidhi's government was dismissed twice
In 1976, the Indira Gandhi led Centre dismissed Karunanidhi's government citing charges of corruption. Notably, MGR is said to have developed close relations with her then. The dismissal was repeated in 1991 under former PM Chandra Shekhar. The President Rule was imposed because of crippling law situation. Notably, Karunanidhi never lost a election, no matter what DMK faced. The man was bigger than party.
Karunanidhi shared a love-hate relationship with both BJP and Congress
Though, Karunanidhi opposed Emergency, the DMK forged an alliance with Congress, as and when required. In 2004, DMK-Congress won all 40 Lok Sabha seats and in 2009, won 28 seats. Similarly, Karunanidhi aligned with BJP, as it suited the party. DMK was a part of Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government too. But will BJP join hands with DMK, now? Time has the answer.
It was Karunanidhi who made Chennai an IT hub
Under Karunanidhi's rule, automobile giants Ford and Hyundai set up base in Tamil Nadu. He also set up TIDEL which later became IT hub of Chennai, competing with Bangalore in neighboring state. However, unlike Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi has not left DMK in shreds. He has made son Stalin his successor, and it is left to be seen if he matches the father's charisma.
