M Karunanidhi, DMK chief and icon of Dravidian politics, passes away at 94

CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi is no more. The end came at 6.10pm on Tuesday. The 94-year-old stalwart had been battling ill-health for more than a year, not long after he was elected to the assembly for the 13th time in 2016. His condition deteriorated on July 28 when his blood pressure dropped and he was hospitalised.

Since then, his condition had been fluctuating and he remained in the intensive care unit till the end. Legions of party workers had been camping outside the hospital since he was brought in, raising slogans and praying for their beloved leader’s recovery. In a chequered and eventful political career spanning over 70 years, Karunanidhi defined the ethos of an era. His political acumen, steadfast Dravidian ideology, writing and oratorical skills, besides his charisma, all in equal measure contributed to his emergence as one of the tallest political leaders of the country.

Karunanidhi had the longest stint as chief minister of the state; he was at the helm for 19 years, though with several breaks. He won every election he contested since 1957. At the helm of the party for nearly half a century, his shrewdness in stitching up alliances and performing tactical manoeuvres ensured the DMK always had a strategic role in the state and on occasions became a force to reckon with at the national level.

Even when the party was not in office for 13 years (1976-1989), Karunanidhi held the DMK flock together by keeping their spirits alive through a daily dose of letters in the party organ, ‘Murasoli’, and fiery speeches to party workers. It’s only the second time in the DMK’s nearly 70-year history that a leadership change will take place, a testament to the firm control Karunanidhi had over the party after he succeeded C N Annadurai at the helm in 1969.

In 1975, when Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency and hounded every opposition party leader, Karunanidhi was the first chief minister to oppose it. But his move to uphold democracy led to the dismissal of his government and eventually his arrest along with scores of DMK leaders under the draconian MISA. Adversity brought out the best in him. Karunanidhi had been jailed and controversies dogged him right through his career. He fought hard for his convictions and always bounced back through sheer grit, determination and hard work. His atheistic outlook and anti-Brahmin stand were not looked upon kindly by the devout.

Born on June 3, 1924 in a modest family at Thirukuvalai, in the presentday Nagapattinam district, Karunanidhi (named Dakshinamurthi by his father Muthuvel, a village medicine man, and mother Anjugam, a housewife) was attracted to the social movement spearheaded by EV Ramasamy Naicker (Periyar) even as a teen. Periyar started the selfrespect movement in 1925, then joined the Justice Party, and in 1944 transformed it into Dravidar Kazhagam, a social organization.

Karunanidhi joined Periyar and toured the state extensively to propagate the ideals of DK. The politician in Karunanidhi was born when Annadurai launched the DMK in 1949. Karunanidhi, just 25 then, went along with him. Since then, his life and the affairs of the party remained interminably intertwined until his last breath. Between 1949 and 1967, Karunanidhi honed his skills in two key areas that soon catapulted him to the top — as a platform speaker and writer.

Initially in the fourth rung of the leadership hierarchy in the party, Karunanidhi was already into public speaking, writing plays and cinema scripts. His title Kalaignar (artist) is a tribute to his calibre as a writer and poet. Karunanidhi understood the power of celluloid and exploited the medium to propagate Dravidian ideology.

DMK was then a youthful party, with Annadurai just 40 and most of the other leaders like EVK Sampath, VR Nedunchezhian, KA Mathiazhagan, NV Natarajan, Govindasamy and K Anbazhagan much younger. This contributed a great deal to young Karunanidhi’s rapid rise in the party hierarchy. He first tasted victory at the hustings in 1957 when he got elected to the assembly from Kulithalai. In 1961 he became party treasurer. In 1962, he became deputy leader of opposition in the assembly. By 1967, Karunanidhi had become quite senior in the party, but still he was number three in the cabinet, after Annadurai and Nedunchezhian.

When Annadurai died 18 months into his term in 1969, Karunanidhi worked within the party and, with the backing of MG Ramachandran, became chief minister by sidelining Nedunchezhian. Karunanidhi held the reins of the government until 1977 when the AIADMK led by MG Ramachandran swept to office. Karunanidhi had to remain opposition leader until 1983. Since then, DMK and AIADMK more or less took turns holding reins of the state. Karunanidhi believed in asserting one’s right and fought tooth and nail to get justice done. In his death, the state has lost a guardian angel and the nation, a tall leader.