Karunanidhi: Interesting Facts About The Veteran Politician

Here are some interesting facts about M. Karunanidhi who passed away last night in Chennai.  The veteran politician was 94 years old and died of organ failure. The medical report by Kauvery Hospital records the time of death as 6:10 P.M. The doctors treating him stated despite maximum medical support they failed to resuscitate him. Thousands of Kalaigar’s supporters gathered around the hospital.

The five time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu inspired a number of people politically. He was also a professional script writer who initially wrote plays for influential theatre groups. Karunanidhi was famously called Kaliagnar which translates to artist.

Here are some interesting facts about the famous rationalist:

1. At the age of 14, Karunanidhi became an activist after being inspired by Speaker Alagirisamy. He later found the Tamil Nadu Tamil Manavar Mandram which was the first student wing of the Dravidian Movement.  

2. Unlike most would expect, Karunanidhi failed his 10th exams and moved to Coimbatore. Here he made a living by writing scripts for many professional theatre groups.

3. Periyar and Annadurai were captured by Karunanidhi’s orator skills and polemicist. They called him to be the new editor of their Dravidar Kazhagam party magazine, Kudiyarasu. This gave Karunanidhi the opportunity to continue as a freelance script writer.  

4. In 1949, Karunanidhi helped Annadurai form the political party DMK. He served as the first treasurer of the party.

5. Karunanidhi gained fame and moved to writing scripts for the big screens. He was the genius behind Prasakthi the 1952 Tamil drama film.

6. The veteran politician was first married to Padmavati who passed away. He went on to wed two more women with whom he had two boys and one son. M. K. Stalin is the son from his second marraige who is also the working President of the DMK. KArunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi is a politician and an MP in the Rajya Sabha.

7. Karunanidhi at 14 introduced Murasoli a newspaper which eventually became the DMK’s official newspaper. His family owns Sun TV group which is one of the biggest media organizations in Tamil Nadu.

Karunanidhi was the oldest living Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu serving for the state a total of five times. His approach to politics is rational and he worked hard to awaken a developed side to people. He was part of politics for a long time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the politician in Chennai.

Karunanidhi has been very supportive of other politicians and spent a good time with actors turned politicians Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth.