Former editor of ‘Murasoli’ dies at 84

Chennai: Chief minister M K Stalin's brother-in-law and former editor of ‘Murasoli', DMK's mouthpiece, Murasoli Selvam died in Bengaluru on Thursday due to ailments. He was 84.
Selvam's body reached former DMK president M Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence in Chennai in the evening. On seeing the body, Stalin broke down and he was seen being consoled by his son, Udhayanidhi Stalin and family members.
DMK functionaries, ministers, party seniors, former chief minister O Panneerselvam, MDMK founder Vaiko, and others paid their last respects.
In his condolence message, Stalin said he was shattered. He said Selvam's was the shoulder he leaned on after his father Karunanidhi's death. "Murasoli Selvam has been my mentor since childhood, guiding me in party work, proposing the right solutions in times of crisis, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder in my growth," Stalin said. Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin expressed shock on hearing about the death of his uncle.
Selvam was the younger brother of former Union minister Murasoli Maran and Stalin's younger sister Selvi's husband. Selvam wrote articles under his pen name ‘Silandhi' in ‘Murasoli'. The last article written by Selvam appeared in Murasoli on Aug 8, in which he criticised governor R N Ravi for his "religious politics". On Thursday morning, after preparing notes to write a piece, he had gone to take a nap when he suffered a heart attack, family members said. Murasoli Selvam rose to prominence during the anti-Hindi agitation in 1965-67 as a student leader.
Apart from being the editor of Murasoli, Selvam also produced a Tamil movie ‘Puyal Paadum Paattu' (Song of the Storm) in 1987. The movie was directed by R Manivannan and written by Karunanidhi, his father-in-law.
When Selvam was the editor of Murasoli, he faced the wrath of J Jayalalithaa when she moved a privilege motion against him for an article criticising her stay in Kodanad estate. In 1992, Selvam was reprimanded at the Bar of the legislative assembly for violating its privileges. Selvam challenged the then govt to file a case in court and said he would face it legally.
Udhayanidhi, in his condolence message, recalled the incident and said "that courage still guides me."
To mourn Selvam's death, DMK general secretary Duraimurugan announced that party flags would be flown at half-mast for three days starting from Thursday.
TN BJP president K Annamalai, PMK founder S Ramadoss, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan, and DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth condoled Selvam's death.