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74 years, 3 generations, 1 ideology: Inside DMK’s ‘first family’ at the heart of TN BJP’s ‘corruption exposé’

BJP’s purported exposé — ‘DMK Files’ — claims 13 members of DMK have assets totalling Rs 1.34 lakh crore. Five of these, it says, are members of ‘DMK first family’.

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Chennai: The “first family” of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is under the spotlight in Tamil Nadu following a BJP campaign targeting its members — from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to his son, state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin — for alleged corruption. 

The BJP’s purported exposé — ‘DMK Files’ — claims 13 members of the DMK have assets totalling Rs 1.34 lakh crore. Five of these, according to the BJP, are members of the family. 

There have also been allegations of dynasty politics, including through an audio clip where Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) is purportedly heard saying that the DMK is run by Udhayanidhi and Stalin’s son-in-law V. Sabareesan (the clip has been dismissed as “fabricated” by PTR).  

The DMK is one of the two major parties of Tamil Nadu, alongside the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), both of which have stood at the junction of the state’s two big loves — politics and cinema.

The journey of the DMK “first family” with the party goes back to 1949, when patriarch M. Karunanidhi — all of 25 at the time — joined hands with C.N. Annadurai, who launched the party and served as the state’s first chief minister. 

Over the years, Karunanidhi served five terms as chief minister and emerged as a towering figure in Indian politics, a stature he maintained until his death in 2018.

Incumbent CM Stalin is Karunanidhi’s son with his second wife, Dayalu Ammal. 

Altogether, Karunanidhi got married three times, and had six children, four sons and two daughters. The latter include Lok Sabha MP K. Kanimozhi.

The family’s involvement with politics doesn’t end there. The late Union minister and veteran parliamentarian Murasoli Maran, whose son Dayanidhi is also an MP in the Lok Sabha, was Karunanidhi’s nephew.

The family’s time in public life has seen plenty of drama — there have been allegations of corruption and an acquittal (in the 2G spectrum case), and one very public falling-out between two brothers over party leadership.

Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur
Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur

As for the allegations of nepotism, they don’t sit well with Stalin. During the campaign for the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly elections, he was at pains to explain at rallies that his journey in the DMK began at the ward level.

In December last year, he also weighed in on the criticism being lobbed at Udhayanidhi, who has a background in films, following his induction as minister, saying he would prove his critics wrong.


Also Read: MK Stalin is in troubled waters—DMK files, Factories Act, VP Singh statue


DMK patriarch — ‘Kalaignar’ Karunanidhi 

Known for his strong oratory and writing skills, Karunanidhi started out as a playwright, a story- and dialogue-writer for Tamil films, and literature scholar, with a stint in journalism as well. 

He was thus addressed by supporters as “kalaignar”, or “artist”. Karunanidhi was born Dakshinamoorthy in 1924. 

As a young boy, he found himself drawn to the social campaign launched by E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (Periyar), which began as the ‘self-respect movement (aimed at creating a society without caste or religion)’ before transforming to the Justice Party and, finally, the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944, which is said to be the ideological predecessor of the Dravidian parties,

At 25, Karunanidhi joined C.N. Annadurai as he launched the DMK. 

In 1957, he first got elected into the assembly. In 1969, just 18 months after the DMK formed the state government, Annadurai passed away. 

At the time, Karunanidhi had one senior in the DMK — V.R. Nedunchezhiyan — but was able to get the party cadres on his side, with the help of a close friend, matinee star MGR, or M.G. Ramachandran. 

In the following years, Karunanidhi shaped the party, and all those who stood against him were ousted, from MGR in 1972 or Vaiko in 1993. 

MGR went on to form the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK or AIADMK), which he said “follows Anna’s ideals, [while] DMK pursues Karunanidhi’s policies”. 

The same year, MGR, veteran Communist Party of India leader M. Kalyanasundaram, and several others submitted to the President multiple memoranda with 28 allegations of corruption against the then CM Karunanidhi and several DMK cabinet members. 

A one-man commission under Supreme Court judge Ranjit Singh Sarkaria was formed to investigate the allegations. In the first of the four-volume report, the Sarkaria commission — which investigated seven allegations — held that six had been proved, wholly or in part. 

The remaining 21, it said, were not backed by much evidence.

In 1976, the then PM Indira Gandhi cited corruption charges to dismiss the Karunanidhi government, which was among the opponents of the Emergency (1975-1977). 

The next year, MGR became the CM. Karunanidhi eventually returned to power in 1989, two years after MGR’s demise.

The heirs

On the personal front, Karunanidhi got married thrice — to the late Padmavathi Ammal, Dayalu Ammal, and Rajathiammal. His children include sons M.K. Muthu, M.K. Alagiri, M.K. Stalin and M.K. Tamilarasu, and daughters Selvi and Kanimozhi. 

DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi greets supporters on his 94th birthday, in June 2018. Son Stalin is also seen in the photo | Twitter | @kalaignar89
DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi greets supporters on his 94th birthday, in June 2018. Son Stalin is also seen in the photo | Twitter | @kalaignar89

The eldest, Muthu — born to Padmavathi — was fielded as an actor by Karunanidhi to counter MGR, who became the face of Dravidian-ideology-inspired cinema. 

Muthu’s first film — Pillaiyo Pillai (1972), scripted by Karunanidhi — was a superhit. But his career did not take off much. 

He later had a fallout with his father, and even joined the AIADMK. But, in 2009, the family came together when Muthu was hospitalised for health-related reasons. 

Muthu is married to Sivagamisundari, with whom he has two children — Arivunidhi, a doctor and playback singer, and Thenmozhi, who is married to CavinKare owner C.K. Ranganathan. 

Thenmozhi’s son Manu Ranjith is married to Akshitha, the daughter of National Award-winning actor Vikram. 

After the demise of Padmavathi in 1948, Karunanidhi married Dayalu Ammal the same year. The eldest of their sons is M.K. Alagiri, former MP and Union minister. 

As far as party roles go, Alagiri was sent to Madurai by Karunanidhi to lead the DMK’s affairs there, and to manage Murasoli, the party mouthpiece. 

Alagiri, however, was removed from the party in 2014 for “anti-party activities”, after he publicly questioned Karunanidhi for naming Stalin as the heir apparent.

Alagiri has three children — son Dayanidhi Alagiri, a Tamil movie producer and distributor, and daughters Kayalvizhi and Anjuga Selvi. 

Dayanidhi has produced films such as the Ajith-starrer Mankatha, Thoonga Nagaram, and Thamizh Padam. In 2012, he was named in an alleged multi-crore granite mining scam, in his capacity as a director in a company accused of illegal mining. 

In 2008, Kayalvizhi took part in a DMK women’s conference. She was part of her father’s election campaign in 2009, and “in 2011 many had seen her as a rival to Kanimozhi”, said political analyst Priyan, who goes by a single name. She faded from the political scene soon afterwards. 


Also Read: DMK’s rising star or crowned too soon? Inside MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi’s swift ascent as minister


DMK’s current ‘first family’

Stalin, Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal’s middle son, was named after Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. 

Born in 1953, he is said to have begun dabbling in politics as a youth member of the DMK in his teens. He shot to prominence during the Emergency. 

In 1976, just five months after his marriage to Durga, then 16, Stalin was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), the draconian erstwhile law.

In his autobiography — ‘Ungalil Oruvan (One among you)’ — Stalin described jail during the Emergency as “torture camps”.

Between 1996 and 2002, Stalin served as mayor of Chennai. In 2009, he was made deputy chief minister.

Until 2017, Stalin served as president of the DMK Youth Wing, a post he held for close to 35 years. That year, in light of Karunanidhi’s deteriorating health condition, Stalin was made working president of the DMK. 

Stalin is now projecting himself as a possible force to unify the opposition parties across the country to take on Narendra Modi and the BJP in the 2024 parliamentary elections. 

So far, Stalin has brought together several opposition parties on the same stage on two different occasions

Stalin and Durga have two children — Udhayanidhi and Senthamarai. Durga, who is from a non-political background, has been a strong pillar of support for Stalin, senior DMK leaders told ThePrint. 

Although Stalin is an atheist in line with the DMK ideology, Durga is a believer. 

During the 2021 election campaign, Stalin had said, “I am not opposed to religion, but I don’t believe in it. My wife goes to temples, and I don’t stop her.” 

In 2018, Durga wrote a book — ‘Avarum Naanum (He and I)’ — where she talked about Stalin and her relationship. 

Udhayanidhi’s association with cinema began as a producer in 2008 with his production house, Red Giant Movies. At the time, his grandfather was serving his fifth term as CM. 

He debuted as an actor in 2012. 

Udhayanidhi is now being projected as the next in line to lead the DMK. 

The 45-year-old entered active politics in 2019 after he was made the party’s youth wing leader. “He wanted to support his father after Kalaignar’s demise,” said a senior DMK MP. 

Among DMK leaders, Udhayanidhi is described as a “calm legislator” who has “displayed outstanding performance” as a minister.

Udhayanidhi had a love marriage with writer and film director Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, known for her works such as Paper Rocket, Vanakkam Chennai and Kaali. The couple has two children, Inbanithi and Tanmaya. 

Udhayanidhi Stalin with his wife Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi in February 2022 | ANI
Udhayanidhi Stalin with his wife Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi in February 2022 | ANI

Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai, under the Durgavathi Educational Trust, runs  the Sunshine Academy Matriculation School in Chennai, along with Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi.

In an interview to a Tamil YouTube channel, Udhayanidhi had described his sister as “very bold” “afraid of none, including Karunanidhi”. “She says what is right and what is wrong,” he added. 

Senthamarai is married to businessman V. Sabareesan, whom political analysts describe as DMK’s campaign strategist. 

“Sabareesan was involved in bringing in (election strategists) Sunil Kanugolu and later Prashant Kishor as political strategists for the DMK,” said Priyan. Sabareesan, analysts say, likes to work in the background. 

Sabareesan, too, has courted controversy. Just four days before the 2021 assembly polls, income tax raids were carried out at his residence, as well as the property of his friends Karthik Mohan and Bala, over tax evasion allegations against a company called G Square Realtors. 

Raids on properties linked to the company also followed the release of the BJP’s ‘DMK Files’, where party state chief K. Annamalai alleged the company’s revenue had shot up on account of its “links” with the DMK. The company has denied the allegations, and called them “grossly defamatory”.

Durga and Senthamarai have kept away from active public life. Analysts say this could be because of “the issues faced by the family when Dayalu Ammal  and Kanimozhi were named in the 2G spectrum scam”. 

“Stalin may want the women in his family away from these controversies,” said Priyan. 

The Maran connection 

Karunanidhi’s fourth son Tamilarasu is a businessman. He has been away from politics and was only seen during the 2016 polls, when he campaigned for Karunanidhi. 

Tamilarasu and his wife Mohana have two children — Arulnithi and Poonguzhali. Arulnithi is an actor and producer, and played the lead in D Block, Vamsam, Demonte Colony, and Dejavu, among other films. 

Karunanidhi’s daughter with Dayalu Ammal, Selvi, is married to  his nephew, Murasoli Selvam, and the couple is settled in Bengaluru. The couple has one daughter, Dr Ezhilarasi Jothimani. 

Karunanidhi’s other nephew, Selvam’s brother, is Murasoli Maran, the late three-time Union minister. 

Maran’s sons are MP Dayanidhi and Kalanidhi, who owns the Sun Network spanning TV channels, radio stations, newspapers and a production house. 

After a fallout between the Karunanidhis and Marans, Selvi played a key role in bringing the two families back together.


Also Read: Following his father’s footsteps? After b’day bash, Stalin to now host oppn parties at ‘social justice’ meet


Karunanidhi’s ‘thunaivi’ 

On the floor of the assembly in 1968, Karunanidhi was questioned about his relationship with Rajathiammal, whom he wed while he was still married to Dayalu Ammal.  

Karunanidhi said she was “en magal Kanimozhyin thaayaar” or “my daughter Kanimozhi’s mother”. 

He is said to have referred to Rajathiammal as “thunaivi (companion)”, and Dayaluammal as “manaivi (wife)”. 

Kanimozhi is the only woman from among his daughters and granddaughters to enter politics. 

She is a DMK MP and is the deputy general secretary of the party. Kanimozhi, who was named in the 2G spectrum case along with Dayalu Ammal, was arrested and lodged in the Tihar jail for 188 days. However, in 2017, she was acquitted in the case along with the other accused, after the CBI court said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against them beyond reasonable doubt.  

A poetess, Kanimozhi is seen as a writer in her father’s mould. She is known to be close to her step-brothers. 

File photo of Stalin with Kanimozhi at a candlelight march against the Hathras gangrape-murder case, in October 2020 | ANI
File photo of Stalin with Kanimozhi at a candlelight march against the Hathras gangrape-murder case, in October 2020 | ANI

Kanimozhi is married to Aravindan, a businessman, and the couple has a son, Aditya.

BJP’s route map to Tamil Nadu

Annamalai has announced that the BJP’s 2024 election campaign is pegged on “clean politics” and “exposing corruption in the DMK, and other parties that have ruled Tamil Nadu”. 

In the ‘DMK Files’ campaign, analysts see the BJP attempting another MGR — who alleged corruption in the Karunanidhi government in the 1970s — as it tries to make inroads in the state. 

“Annamalai is using a time-tested modus operandi. With the help of modern-day technology, it is easy for him to make these dossiers,” said R. Mani, a senior political analyst from the state. 

“Annamalai, with his ‘DMK Files’, has been able to score and achieve the necessary damage to a certain extent,” he added. 

(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)


Also Read: MK Stalin calls for united Opposition against BJP & its ‘gross discrimination’ at his ‘social justice’ meeting


 

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