DMK chief Karunanidhi is dead

Muthuvel Karunanidhi, one of southern India’s most well known politicians, passed away in a hospital in Chennai yesterday, his party announced.He was 94.He was admitted to the Kauvery Hospital on July 28, suffering from a urinary tract infection and high fever, and his condition turned critical on Monday owing to age-related ailments.“Despite the best possible efforts by our team of doctors and nurses to resuscitate him, he failed to respond,” the hospital said in a statement.The president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, Karunanidhi dominated Tamil Nadu politics for over six decades.He was chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms.Karunanidhi’s health had been failing over the past few months, but he had led his party into several recent state elections sitting on a wheelchair with his trademark huge dark glasses that he wore to cover a botched eye surgery.Karunanidhi served as chief minister for five terms and won his first election in 1957.His death comes less than two years after that of his bitter rival, actress-turned politician J Jayalalithaa of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, leaving a political void in the state.“His understanding of policy and emphasis on social welfare stood out,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted following the veteran’s demise.India’s two national parties, Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress, have little presence in Tamil Nadu, a state of nearly 70mn people where politics have been dominated by the DMK and the AIADMK.Supporters beat their chests and chanted the leader’s name as hundreds of police struggled to contain the surging crowds pressing against barricades.Local channels reported that the numbers of curious onlookers and his party supporters increased around the hospital after news of his death.A security alert had been sounded across the state, bearing in mind the outbreaks of violence in the past over the deaths of popular figures.Shortly after his death, a controversy erupted after the AIADMK government declined a DMK plea to allot space on the Marina Beach to inter Karunanidhi’s mortal remains today, next to his mentor and DMK founder C N Annadurai.The DMK decided to move the Madras High Court for an urgent hearing as it was not happy with the land allotted on Sardar Patel Road near the memorials of Rajaji and K Kamaraj.The body of the DMK chief was taken to his home in Gopalapuram where it will be kept in state for people to pay their last respects.Karunanidhi was chief minister of Tamil Nadu five times and successfully contested 12 state elections, building legions of supporters on the way.Karunanidhi, who always appeared in public with dark glasses and a yellow shawl draped on a shoulder, built his career fighting oppression by Brahmins.He criticised organised religion and superstition and was known for his sharp wit, command over the Tamil language and populist schemes for those at the bottom of society.Supporters on Twitter reminisced about how his scheme to offer free education to first-generation graduates had helped them.The iconoclastic leader also tried to install non-Brahmins as priests in temples.He was known for drawing foreign investors to India’s second largest state economy, and oversaw the state becoming an industrial powerhouse, credited with opening many industrial and technology parks.Karunanidhi, who wrote scripts for Tamil cinema before entering politics, faced allegations of corruption and nepotism.In one case involving an alleged loss to the state over construction of a bridge, police dragged Karunanidhi out of his home after midnight.Pictures of the dishevelled politician made it to the nation’s television screens, but police were not able to produce enough evidence and charges were dropped.He blamed the raid on his opponent Jayalalithaa who also faced allegations of graft and was found guilty of corruption after her death.Karunanidhi leaves two wives – Dayalu and Rajathi, three sons including DMK working president M K Stalin and former federal minister M K Alagiri, daughter Kanimozhi, and MP, and several grandchildren.The DMK patriarch, who had faded from public life for nearly two years, had been in and out of hospital.Karunanidhi, who only 10 days ago completed 49 years as DMK chief, led his party through various ups and downs against charismatic rivals M G Ramachandran, who had banished him to the opposition ranks till his own death in 1987, and Jayalalithaa, who died in 2016.From 1967, when the DMK ousted the Congress for ever from power in the state, Tamil Nadu has been ruled either by the DMK or AIADMK.Succeeding his mentor Annadurai in 1969 as chief minister, Karunanidhi maintained a strong hold over the party and government.Though he didn’t aspire for politics beyond Tamil Nadu, the multi-faceted leader played key roles in national politics starting from when he aligned with Indira Gandhi in 1969 on issues like bank nationalisation and later in the formation of coalition governments under V P Singh, H D Deve Gowda, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.