Here are Facts about Karunanidhi that Most People Don’t Know.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018), popularly known as Kalaignar (artist), was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of the state of Tamil Nadu for five separate terms in the 1969–2011 period. He was a long-standing leader of the Dravidian Self-respect movement and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party. Before entering politics he worked in the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter. He has also made contributions to Tamil literature, having written stories, plays, novels, and a multiple-volume memoir.[3][4]
Karunanidhi died at 6:10 p.m. on 7 August 2018 at the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after a prolonged, age-related illness which led to multiple-organ failure.
Here are some facts about it that most people don’t know :
- M. Karunanithi ( Muthuvel Karunanithi) was born as Dakshinamurthy in a poor Tamil family that played Nadaswaram and Thavil in Temples . Interesting point to note is that , being from a socially and economically disadvantaged community he was able to enter the Tamil Nadu politics at an young age and rise up, which was dominated by Zamindars , Barristers, Government officials and rich landlords.
- He entered Politics at an young age of 14 , when Justice Party was in ascent in Madras Province. Justice Party espoused Fedaralism , Equality and Equal opportunities to everyone.
- He was part of the Dravidian movement and assumed leadership in dialogues and screen play writing. In fact , his mentor Annadurai and himself has written countless hard hitting social dramas that took Dravidian ideology to the masses. Initially he was part of Dravida Kazhagam of Periyar and later due to ideological differences he and his mentor C.Annadurai started Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
- The dialogues that was mouthed by Thespian Chevalier. Sivaji Ganesan in his debut movie , Parasakthi was written by M. Karunanithi . The dialogue that Sivaji Ganesan mouths in court room scene was Master class by itself and also sums up the tone of Dravidian ideology then.
- He assumed the post of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1969 after the untimely death of his mentor C. Annadurai . Until now he has become Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for five times.
- He has been elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for a record 12 times as MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly).
- He was one of the few Chief Ministers who opposed the draconian implementation of Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA)act during Emergency which was implemented by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
- One of the fiercest critics of high handedness of Central Governmentover the matters of State Government and has always opposed Article 356 which provides the Central Government , the power to dismiss the state government and impose President’s rule. This article was misused and abused by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to put down her political opponents and prevent rise of strong regional leaders within her own party. Following a landmark judgement in the 1994 Bommaicase, the Supreme Court of India has clamped down on arbitrary impositions of President’s rule by central governments. His party still espouse the cause of ‘Federalism‘
- His friendship with M.G.Ramachandran (Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran) otherwise popularly known as M.G.R. was well known and their friendship stems from working shoulder to shoulder in DMK(Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam). In fact , their friendship and their ascent in Tamil Nadu politics was the basis of 1997 critically acclaimed Political Drama , Iruvar , which was directed by Maniratnam.
- He was one of the prime factors who shaped the destiny of Chennai City. it was during his times , the suburbs KK Nagar and Anna Nagarwere created . Veeranam Project to provide water to Chennai City was executed during his rule.
- He was the man behind setting up Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus or CMBT which was the Asia’s largest bus station when conceived and opened and now the Third largest bus station in Asia. His efforts to bring IT revolution in Chennai was through setting up TIDEL PARK , which is the single largest IT park in the country.
- He was the man behind construction of Valluvar Kottam , one of the most recognized landmark in Chennai . This was constructed in honor of Tamil Poet Thiruvalluvar who gave ‘Thirukkural’ to the world . It is one of the most translated works in the human history. Later he went on to commission a statue of Thiruvalluvar ( 133 ft ) in Kanyakumari , which is the southern most point of Mainland India . ( The actual southern most point is Indira Point which is part of Nicobar Islands
- Chennai Metro Rail Project was conceptualized for Chennai City during the rule of M. Karunanithi.
- Single Window Admission System for Engineering seats was implemented in 1996 to weed out nepotism in Undergraduate Engineering admissions of Anna University.
- ‘Mini Bus‘ scheme was introduced by M.K to establish last mile connectivity in Tamil Nadu . In fact , Tamil Nadu is one among the few states where one can travel from capital city to one’s own village by using public transportation systems.
- One of the pet projects of M.K was Anna Centenary Library (ACL) in Chennai which is one of the largest libraries in Asia.
- It was during his Government in 1996 , the name of Madras was officially changed to Chennai.
- Chennai City development got huge impetus during his rule in 1971 through created of suburbs (KK Nagar and Anna Nagar) , later in 1996-2001 when many flyovers and expressways were proposed and implemented to reduce the traffic on Chennai roads.