Karunanidhi death Latest Updates: Karunanidhi, president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) who was ailing for sometime, died at the age of 94 at Chennai's Kauvery Hospital on Tuesday. He was a long-standing leader of the Dravidian self-respect movement and ten-time president of his own party.
Karunanidhi, who served as chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms, was admitted to hospital on July 28 after he contracted urinary tract infection. Later, the doctors had advised a longer stay to him because of 'age related overall decline in his general health, altered liver function and haematological parameters'.
Karunanidhi was survived by two wives. The 94-year-old leader had been married three times and had six children. His three wives were late Padmavathy, Dayalu and Rajathi.
He had four sons, namely M K Muthu, M K Alagiri, M K Stalin, and M K Tamilarasu and two daughters, Selvi and Kanimozhi. M K Muthu, his eldest son, was born to Padmavathy, who died early. Azhagiri, Stalin, Selvi and Tamilarasu were born to Dayalu, while Kanimozhi is the only daughter from his third wife, Rajathi.
Karunanidhi became the 3rd chief minister of Tamil Nadu after the creation of the new state. In 1969, he became chief minister for the first time and on May 13, 2006, he became the CM for the fifth time.
Who was Karunanidhi
At the age of 14, Karunanidhi entered politics. He was inspired by a speech by Alagiriswamii of the Justice Party. He participated in Anti-Hindi agitations and founded an organisation for the local youth of his locality.
Later, he founded a student organisation called Tamil Nadu Tamil Manavar Mandram.
Karunanidhi entered the Tamil Nadu assembly at the age of 33 by winning the Kulithalai seat in the 1957 election.
When Annadurai expired in 1969, Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister of the state. However, he suffered multiple electoral defeats against his primary opponent M.G. Ramachandran's ADMK until the latter's death in 1987.
In the Tamil film industry, he was also known for his writing works and M.R. Radha gave him the title of Kalaignar.
M Karunanidhi began his career as a screenwriter in the Tamil film industry and rose to fame as a scriptwriter for the Modern Theatres Studio in Salem about 350 km from Madras or present-day Chennai.
At the age of 20, he went to work for Jupiter Pictures. His first film, Rajakumaari, gained him much popularity and it was here that his skills as a scriptwriter were honed, which extended to many films.
Karunanidhi, whose original name was Dakshinamurthy, was born in Thirukkuvalai village in Nagapattinam district.
During his school time, Karunanidhi was more interested in drama, poetry and literature.
In 1971, Annamalai University awarded him an honorary doctorate.
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