Muthuvel Karunanidhi (generally referred to as M. Karunanidhi or Dr. Kalaignar), born on June 3 1924 in the Tanjore District,(now Tiruvarur) Tamil Nadu, India, is one of the founder members and the present leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the president of the DMK party since 1969. He has been the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five times (1969-71, 1971-74, 1989-91, 1996-2001 and 2006-date). He took over as the Chief Minister on 13 May 2006 after his coalition defeated his main opponent J. Jayalalithaa in the May 2006 elections.He currently represents the constituency of Chepauk in Central Chennai in the Tamil Nadu state Legislative Assembly. He holds the record of winning every election that he fought in his political career spanning over 60 years. ^*

Karunanidhi began his career as a scriptwriter in the Tamil film industry. He is known for his wit and oratorical skills, qualities which helped his rapid rise as a popular politician. He was famous for writing historicals and mythological stories which propagated the socialist and rationalist ideals of the Dravidian movement to which he belonged.^*

His son, M.K. Stalin is widely expected to succeed him as leader of the party, causing some political opponents to criticise him for attempting to establish a political dynasty. His defenders counter that Stalin has been in the party for several years and has contributed to its growth. His grand-nephew, Dayanidhi Maran, is currently the Union Minister of Communications & Information Technology.

The Justice Jain commission which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi's assassination indicted Karunanidhi for abetting the LTTE(The report recommended that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the DMK party be held responsible for abetting Rajiv Gandhi's murderers. They were later cleared of the charges. Karunanidhi was also indicted by the Sarkaria commission for corruption in alotting tenders for the Veeranam project[http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/06/10/stories/0410223a.htm. However the case was not pursued further.

Karunanidhi came to the spotlight again in July 2006 after he threatned to withdraw DMK's support for the UPA coalition following the latter's plans for disinvestment of profit-making PSUs like the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and NALCO. The move is believed to be a major setback for India's disinvestment drive.

References

1924 births | Living people | Tamil politicians | Indian politicians | Tamil Nadu | Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu | Incumbent Indian Chief Ministers

M・カルナーニディ | M Karunanidhi | மு. கருணாநிதி