M. Karunanidhi Wiki, Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Muthuvel Karunanidhi was one of the greatest political giants in the history of Tamil Nadu. Apart from politics, he is also remembered for his exquisite work in screenwriting. Manthiri, Kumari, Parasakthi, Malaikkallan, Manohara are some examples of his prominent screenwriting, that changed Tamil Cinema thoroughly. Having served as a chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the five times, no doubt, he was the key figure in Tamil politics. Check out M. Karunanidhi Wiki, Wife, Family, Ethnicity, Biography, Profession, Facts, Salary, Net Worth & More

Biography/Wiki

M. Karunanidhi was born on 3 June 1924 in Thirukuvalai, Madras Presidency, British India. Since childhood, he was very interested in art, drama, poetry, and literature. Having been inspired by the Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, at the age of 14, he showed his interest in politics by joining Anti-Hindi Agitation in 1937. At the age of 20, he worked with Jupiter Pictures as a scriptwriter. He soon became a close friend of screenwriter C.N. Annadurai, who founded the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) in 1949 and later became the first chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1969. When he worked as a screenwriter, he suffered heavy censorship; two of his plays were banned in the 1950s. 

He became very popular for writing social and historical stories that supported socialistic and rationalistic ideals to the Dravidian movement to which he belonged and his plays and poetry having social messages, paved his way to politics. As a high school student, he laid the foundation of the Tamil Nadu Tamil Manavar Mandram, the first student wing of the Dravidian Movement.  He also started a school newspaper ‘Murasoli‘, now known as the DMK’s official newspaper. Due to his intellectual personality and a great oratorial style, he rapidly rose to prominence in Tamil politics.

Family

Karunanidhi was born to Muthuvelu and Anju. He was the only son along with his two sisters, Shanmugasundarath Ammal and Periyanayagam. He had three wives. He married his first wife, Padmavathi Ammal in the early 1940s and had a son named M. K. Muthu with her.

Karunanidhi married his second wife, Dayalu Ammal in 1948 and had sons; M. K. Alagiri (Politician), M.K Stalin (Politician), M. K. Tamilarasu (Producer) and a daughter, Selvi Geetha Kovilam.

He married his third wife, Rajathi Ammal in the late 1960s and had a daughter with her, named Kanimozhi (Politician).

Career

Karunanidhi started his career as a screenwriter in 1947 with Rajakumaari but he achieved his breakthrough from Parasakthi in 1952. At the age of 33, he rose to power in politics, he entered Tamil Nadu assembly by winning the Kulithalai seat in the 1957 election. He became the leader of opposition in 1962. When DMK came into power in 1967, he became the Minister for Public Works and in 1969, when C. N. Annadurai passed away after the 20 days chief ministership, Karunanidhi became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time.

Karunanidhi was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly 13 times (from 1957 to 2016 elections) and once to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Now abolished). He served as a chief minister for five times and remained party chief for about 50 years. Jayalalithaa was his main political opponent, who defeated him in 1991, 2001, 2002, 2011, and 2015.

While being as a chief minister, Karunanidhi wrote scripts for the films even then. His last script was Ponnar Shankar (2011).

Controversies

Karunanidhi was accused by Sarkaria Commission of his involvement in corruption in the allotment of tenders for Veeranam project, due to this, his government was dismissed by the then Prime Minister of the country, Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

In 2001, Karunanidhi, along with former Chief Secretary K.A. Nambiar, was arrested and charged with corruption in the construction of flyovers in Chennai. He and his party members were charged under many sections of the IPC. However, no solid evidence was found against them.

Once, he made a controversial remark on Lord Rama and his existence, he also made some comments about Ramsethu. His controversial remarks created a furore in the country.

Many accused him of having links with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant group to create an independent state for Tamil speaking people.

Some political observers, his party members, and opponents accused him of promoting nepotism in the party.

Net Worth/Assets/House

He had ₹5 crore movable assets and was worth more than ₹45 crore (as per 2014).

Favourite Things

He was very interested in sports and films. His favourite cricketers were Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, and M.S. Dhoni. His favourite actor was M. G. Ramachandran.

Death

Karunanidhi passed away on 7 August 2018 at the age of 94 due to Chronic Illness (Urinary Tract Infection) at the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai. He was buried he was buried on 8 August 2018 at Marina Beach, Chennai.

Awards/Achievements

In 1971, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Annamalai University. Tamil University awarded him Raja Rajan Award for his book, Thenpandi Singam. At the 40th convocation of Madurai Kamaraj University, then governor and the University Chancellor, Surjit Singh Barnala conferred him an honorary doctorate. In June 2007, he was titled a Friend of the Muslim Community by the Tamil Nadu Muslim Makkal Katchi.

Facts

• Karunanidhi was born into a poor family. His entire family depended upon a temple for its livelihood.

• When he was in school, he became very interested in drama, literature, and poetry.

• When he was 14 years old, he got very inspired by Alagiriswamy of the Justice Party and after that, he made up his mind to enter politics.

• When he was in 10th standards, he failed and moved to Coimbatore, where he made his livelihood by writing scripts for professional theatre groups.

• When he was 20 years old, he began writing scripts for the Tamil movies.

• His skills as an orator and a writer, grab the attention of Periyar and Annadurai and they appointed him as the editor of their Dravidar Kazhagam party magazine.

• When Annadurai formed DMK, Karunanidhi was the member of it. Annadurai was his ‘political guru‘.

• In the late 1960s, he damaged his eyes in an accident, thereafter, he used to wear glasses.

• In 1969, When Annadurai passed away, Karunanidhi succeeded him with the help of his close friend, MG Ramachandran.

• In 1972, MG Ramachandran split from the party after he was denied a cabinet post and formed AIADMK.

• In 1980, he met boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, who came to India for a guest match.

• Karunanidhi was the big fan of the poet, Thiruvalluvar. He constructed a 133-foot high statue of Thiruvalluvar, in Kanyakumari.

• He wrote the screenplay for American film director, Ellis Roderick Dungan.

• In 2006, Karunanidhi became the oldest serving Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu when he assumed office as Chief Minister.

• Commonly, he was called ‘Kalaignar‘ due to his love for art and literature.

• In his political career of 61 years, he never lost the election.

• He was an avid dog lover. His favourite dog was “Khanna,” a Lhasa apso-type dog.

• An official theme song, ‘Semmozhiyaana Tamizh Mozhiyaam,’ was written by Karunanidhi for the World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, which was tuned by A. R. Rahman.

• When he died in August 2018, thousands of people gathered at Rajaji Hall. Two died and thirty got injured in the stampede.

• In March 2023, ahead of the third ODI between India and Australia, a new stand at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai was unveiled that was named after M. Karunanidhi. ^[1]The Indian Express