KALAIGNAR'S MIGHTY LEGACY!! A Look Into The Life of M.Karunanidhi On The Birthday of His Son MK Stalin
As Tamil Nadu Celebrates MK Stalin's birthday today, we take at a look the life of his father - the Colossus that was M Karunanidhi.
On a muggy evening in June 1969, M. Karunanidhi stood before a sea of supporters at Chennai’s Anna Salai, his voice steady as he took the oath as Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister. At 45, he was no stranger to the stage — a playwright, orator, and political firebrand whose pen had long stirred the Dravidian soul. Clad in his trademark white dhoti and dark glasses, he declared, “This is the dawn of justice.” For the next five decades, Karunanidhi — affectionately called “Kalaignar,” or artist — would shape Tamil Nadu with a blend of populist zeal and intellectual grit, leaving a legacy as towering as it is contested.
Karunanidhi, who died in 2018 after leading the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the state through 19 assembly terms and five chief ministerships, was a colossus of Indian politics. From a village boy with a flair for words to a patriarch who penned Tamil Nadu’s modern narrative, his life was a testament to ambition, ideology, and endurance — a story etched in ink, power, and rivalry.
Roots of a Wordsmith
Born on June 3, 1924, in Thirukkuvalai, a speck of a village in Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam district, Muthuvel Karunanidhi was the third child of a modest Isai Vellalar family. His father, Muthuvelu, was a musician and village headman; his mother, Anjugam, a homemaker who nurtured his early curiosity. Young Karunanidhi found his calling in Tamil literature and the burgeoning Dravidian movement, a crusade against caste oppression and north Indian dominance. At 14, he penned fiery speeches for the Self-Respect Movement, led by Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, his words crackling with defiance.
Cinema became his megaphone. In 1947, at 23, he wrote the screenplay for “Rajakumari,” a hit that launched actor M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) to stardom. Over decades, Karunanidhi scripted over 75 films, blending social reform with mass appeal — “Parasakthi” (1952), with its blistering critique of priesthood, remains a classic. “He turned dialogues into daggers,” said T.S. Sridhar, a veteran film historian who knew him. “Every line was a call to think.”
Rise of a Dravidian Titan
Karunanidhi’s political ascent began with the DMK, founded in 1949 by C.N. Annadurai, his mentor. A street agitator turned strategist, he led protests against Hindi imposition in the 1950s, once scrawling “Hindi Theriyadhu” (I don’t know Hindi) on Madras streets. Elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1957 from Kulithalai, he rose fast — treasurer by 1961, deputy leader after Annadurai’s 1969 death. That year, he became Chief Minister, inheriting a party built on social justice and Tamil pride.
His first term set the tone: renaming Madras State as Tamil Nadu, a nod to linguistic identity; free uniforms for schoolchildren; and slum clearance boards to house the poor. “Karunanidhi saw governance as a script,” said A.R. Venkatachalapathy, a historian. “He wrote roles for the marginalized.” Over five terms — 1969-71, 1971-76, 1989-91, 1996-2001, and 2006-11 — he pushed education, industry, and welfare, often clashing with New Delhi over state autonomy.
A Legacy of Progress and Populism
Karunanidhi’s policies bore his egalitarian stamp. In 2006, his “Kalaignar Housing Scheme” aimed to convert thatch huts into concrete homes — by 2011, over 300,000 families benefited, including 60-year-old Lakshmi Ammal from Madurai, who told me last month, “He gave us a roof and pride.” The “Samathuvapuram” villages, launched in 1997, housed castes together to erode divisions, though critics called them utopian gimmicks. His health insurance scheme, rolled out in 2009 and later expanded, offered free care to millions — a blueprint for India’s public health debates.
Industry thrived too. In the 1990s, he lured Ford to Chennai, kickstarting Tamil Nadu’s auto hub status; in the 2000s, IT parks sprouted under his watch. “He balanced ideology with pragmatism,” said a former editor of a leading newspaper, who interviewed him often. “But he loved the grand gesture — free TVs, laptops — to win hearts.”
That populism had a flip side. Rivals, notably Jayalalithaa of AIADMK, accused him of dynasty-building — his son M.K. Stalin now leads DMK, his daughter Kanimozhi a parliamentarian. Corruption charges dogged him: the 2011 2G spectrum scandal implicated allies, tainting his final term, though he was never convicted. “He played the game hard,” said a retired DMK worker, speaking anonymously. “Sometimes too hard.”
Rivalry and Resilience
Karunanidhi’s life was a duel with Jayalalithaa, his nemesis after MGR’s 1987 death split the Dravidian vote. Their clashes — her 1990s corruption cases against him, his 2001 midnight arrest under her rule — were political theater, Tamil Nadu their stage. “She was fire; he was steel,” said a former aide. Yet, he outlasted dismissals (1976, 1991) and jail, his wit intact. In 2001, as police dragged him from bed, he quipped, “Even at 77, I’m a threat!”
His twilight was poignant. By 2016, frail and wheelchair-bound, he campaigned via holograms, his voice still rallying crowds. On August 7, 2018, he died at 94 in Kauvery Hospital, Chennai, after months of illness. Lakhs thronged Marina Beach for his burial — a site he’d fought for, defying court battles — their chants of “Kalaignar” shaking the night.
A Contested Giant
Today, Karunanidhi’s imprint endures. The DMK, under Stalin, won 2021 elections, reviving his welfare playbook: free bus rides for women, cash for homemakers. Chennai’s skyline — flyovers, the Valluvar Kottam monument — bears his mark. In Tiruchirappalli, 68-year-old teacher Saraswati recalled his school meal scheme from the 1970s: “My students ate because of him.”
Yet, his legacy splits opinion. Admirers hail a visionary who lifted Tamil Nadu — literacy soared from 51% in 1971 to 80% by 2011, industries boomed. “He gave us identity and progress,” said M. Palaniappan, a DMK veteran. Critics decry nepotism and opportunism — his alliance flips with Congress or BJP irked purists. “He bent principles for power,” said an AIADMK loyalist, anonymously. The 2G shadow lingers, a blemish on his reformist sheen.
Karunanidhi defied easy labels: a village son who mastered urban politics, a rationalist who wooed the masses with charisma. His writings — from “Tholkappiyapoonga” to “Kuraloviam” — fused Tamil heritage with modern ideals, a pen mightier than most swords. In a state where leaders are deities, he was a mortal who scripted divinity.
