M. Karunanidhi

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Kalaignar Muthuvel Karunanidhi (generally referred to as M. Karunanidhi), (born June 3 1924) is one of the founder members and the present leader of the DMK party in Tamil Nadu, India. He is the president of the DMK party since 1969. He has been the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu four times (1969-71, 1971-74, 1989-91, and 1996-2001).He currently represents the constituency of "Chepauk" in Central Chennai in the Tamilnadu state Legislative assembly.

Karunanidhi started his career as a script-writer working in the Tamil film industry, but his wit and oratorical skills rapidly made him a popular politician. He was famous for writing historicals and mythological stories which propagated the socialist and rationalist ideals of Dravidian movement to which he belonged to. His long political career has spanned over 60 years. However, allegations of corruption have dogged his years in power. On June 30, 2001 he was arrested for alleged involvement in the "flyover scam" at around midnight, an act which raised a lot of humanitarian questions. Although later released on health grounds, his arrest provoked massive riots, and brought the government of Tamil Nadu into direct conflict with the Central Indian Government.

He has championed the cause of Tamil language in the past and has rallied against the "imposition" of Hindi in Tamil Nadu. According to him "Hindi is like 'carrier food' from the hotel; English is the food made by cook according to one's instructions; and Tamil, food from the mother who knows the family's needs and preferences, and feeds them accordingly". Although this has been hailed by Tamil fanatics it has been ascribed as the prime cause for lack of Hindi knowledge amongst Tamilians.

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.

He is also widely criticized for practising polygamy and having two wives although polygamy is officially illegal in the Indian legal system. This aspect has also been portrayed in the Tamil movie Iruvar.

Karunanidhi wears a yellow shawl all the time to create what is called an identity. This practice is very common among Tamil politicians; they dress in a peculiar way so that one piece of their dress will always be with them and will be in the same color. In his case it is a yellow shawl. Many say the reason for the yellow shawl is because it helps him as he has the influence of the planet Jupiter. According to Hindu beliefs wearing the color of Jupiter (yellow) helps during such a phase. He portrays himself as a strong atheist and this one practice is used by his critics to betray his hypocrisy.Karunanidhi is also known to ridicule hindu beliefs and cultural values so as to garner minority votes from Islamic community. He is also a staunch supporter of LTTE's terrorist activities.He practices anti-brahminism(like anti-semitic) and very recently vowed to create a new anti-brahmin movement but was forced to drop it because of his coalition partners in the Tamilnadu political spectrum.

In his political career he has often changed sides to garner power. First he opposed indira gandhi during the 1978 emergency(Indira gandhi imposed emergency and implemented draconian laws to keep power), but in the early 80's he got into a coalition with congress(party headed by indiragandhi) so as to capture power in his home state of tamilnadu.

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