1. Muthuvel Karunanidhi was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011.
27 Facts About M Karunanidhi
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The taste for activism however stuck and in the ensuing years, after a brief flirtation with Communism, M Karunanidhi started following the work and speeches of leaders of Justice Party, Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.
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The first major protest that aided M Karunanidhi in gaining ground in Tamil politics was his involvement in the Kallakudi demonstration in Kallakudi in 1953 when he was 29.
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Six people died in the protest and M Karunanidhi was arrested and was sent to jail for six months.
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At the age of 33, M Karunanidhi entered the Tamil Nadu assembly by winning the Kulithalai seat in Tiruchirapalli during the 1957 election among the 15 DMK legislators elected and were elected as the Chief Whip.
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Some people believed M Karunanidhi had admitted to the government's incompetence.
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In March 1971, M Karunanidhi formed an alliance with the Congress headed by Indira Gandhi, on the precondition that her party will not contest in any Assembly seats.
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Later, DMK lost the 1977 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, M Karunanidhi won from Anna Nagar consistency and became the leader of the opposition.
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MGR offered a kind hand to the Morarji Desai government, while M Karunanidhi renewed his alliance with Indira Gandhi.
10.
In February 1982, M Karunanidhi embarked on a week-long padayatra from Madurai to Tiruchendur, spanning about 200 kilometres, in order to seek 'justice' for Subramania Pillai, a Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department officer who was found dead in November 1980.
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In May 1986, M Karunanidhi established the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation and held a major national conclave in Madurai to promote the Tamil aspiration for self-determination in Sri Lanka.
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The M Karunanidhi administration is then dismissed and placed under presidents rule by the Chandra Shekhar led union government after only two years of its five-year tenure due to its inability to act against Sri Lankan Tamil militants.
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In 1989, M Karunanidhi passed a law giving equal rights to women in family properties.
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Later, A Raja said that M Karunanidhi told him that he regretted the alliance.
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The images of M Karunanidhi falling, being dragged, being lifted up and pushed by the police created a sympathy wave for him.
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On 8 May 2006, M Karunanidhi's administration became the first minority administration in Tamil Nadu's history, and soon after declared a price cut for rice and the waiver of cooperative farmer loans, two of the DMK's main electoral promises.
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In 2006, M Karunanidhi introduced the 'Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam,' which aimed for the establishment of a library in each village panchayat.
18.
On his 86th birthday, M Karunanidhi donated his Gopalapuram home to the Annai Anjugam Trust, which would manage a free hospital for the underprivileged after his and his wife's demise.
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In 1956, M Karunanidhi issued a resolution at the DMK council in Chidambaram denouncing Sri Lanka's 'Sinhala Only policy'.
20.
In 2009, during the final stages of the war, M Karunanidhi was unable to convince the UPA alliance to intervene.
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At the age of 20, M Karunanidhi went to work for Jupiter Pictures as a scriptwriter.
22.
Apart from literature, M Karunanidhi has contributed to the Tamil language through art and architecture.
23.
At Kanyakumari, M Karunanidhi constructed a 133-foot-high statue of Thiruvalluvar in honour of the scholar.
24.
The books written by M Karunanidhi include Sanga Thamizh, Thirukkural Urai, Ponnar Sankar, Romapuri Pandian, Thenpandi Singam, Vellikizhamai, Nenjukku Needhi, Iniyavai Irubathu and Kuraloviam.
25.
On 28 July 2018, M Karunanidhi's health deteriorated and became "extremely critical and unstable", and he was admitted at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai for treatment.
26.
Later, M Karunanidhi clarified his remarks by saying that "I'm not against Ram, my conscience is my God".
27.
An interim report of Justice Jain Commission, which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, had indicted M Karunanidhi for abetting Rajiv Gandhi's murderers, who belonged to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.