Karunanidhi, 94, died at the Kauvery hospital on Tuesday following prolonged illness.
With Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi expressing his wish to retire by June next year, his son M K Stalin, regarded as the political heir apparent, on Tuesday hoped that the DMK patriarch would not quit active politics.
After an unsavoury courtroom battle, his party won to secure for him the final resting place at the Chennai landmark
His father Somappa Rayappa Bommai was the state chief minister during 1988-1989.
In private, questions are being raised about the wisdom of a 'dual-SIM' leadership during the long run-up to the 2026 assembly polls where 'family rule' could become an election issue, reports N Sathiya Moorthy.
Over the medium and long term, the BJP hopes to devour the AIADMK, they having identified the party as 'ideologically not as sound as the DMK', predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 94-year-old leader is currently being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids.
"Some are creating an impression that Rajinikanth is to launch a party at the instigation of people who intend to decimate the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu. "Let me tell you, this is the land of Periyar (Dravidar Kazhagam founder E V Ramasamy Naicker), Anna (C N Annadurai) and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi)... such efforts in the past have ended in a fiasco," Stalin said.
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
Breaking his silence, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Friday denied his son and Union Minister M K Alagiri had offered to resign from the Cabinet. "These are media reports. Let them continue to be media reports. He has not given any letter to me," Karunanidhi told mediapersons in his first comments on the issue.
The body was kept at the leader's Gopalapuram residence till 1 am.
DMK working president M K Stalin has appealed to cadres to remain calm and to follow discipline in 'this hour of grief'.
Udhayanidhi's 'untimely' elevation as deputy CM may be used against the party, for critics to argue that the DMK's 'first family's is not concerned about anything else but their clan's welfare. If packaged and delivered properly, some of the sting may stick at election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Amid the simmering sibling rivalry in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's first family that triggered the suspension of his elder son M K Alagiri from the party, DMK chief M Karunanidhi has written to the Prime Minister seeking additional security for his younger son Stalin
Rahul Gandhi visited ailing DMK chief M Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai.
The party, rallying in his support, campaigned that national icons like Periyar EV Ramasamy, Dr BR Ambedkar and Naryana Guru had spoken against discrimination including those based on a person's birth. That the Sanatan Dharma controversy cut no electoral ice in Tamil Nadu was also seen as a success for Udhayanidhi.
Tamil Nadu chief secretary said that the request could not be sanctioned, owing to the legal issues at Marina Beach.
His likable boy-next-door face and casual approach to public speaking have a unique appeal for the younger generation, but it stops there, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Modi described the DMK chief as a prolific thinker and a deep-rooted mass leader who stood for regional aspiration and national progress.
"Alagiri came to my house on January 24 and complained regarding Stalin and troubled me and used harsh words. Alagiri told me Stalin will die in three months. No father can tolerate such words against his son," Karunanidhi said, explaining.
Amid a growing chorus in the party for his elevation, Tamil Nadu sports minister and son of Chief Minister M K Stalin, Udhayanidhi, was elevated as the deputy CM on Saturday with additional responsibility, in a cabinet reshuffle that saw the return of V Senthil Balaji to the council of ministers two days after securing bail in a money laundering case.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin turned 70 on March 1, 2023.
Blowing hot and cold, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday extended an olive branch to the Congress offering to "forgive" and support it after the elections.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi and his son M K Stalin on Friday issued a legal notice to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Jayalalithaa.
The sibling rivalry in Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam escalated on Tuesday with its party chief M Karunanidhi saying his elder son Alagiri has talked about the "death" of his younger son Stalin, a charge the Madurai strongman dubbed as baseless.
Maintaining that he has been "unfairly vilified" and suspended, Dravida Munetra Kazhagam leader M K Alagiri on Monday alleged "some forces" in the party were not allowing its chief and his father M Karunanidhi to discharge his functions.
Stalin gets a new title...
Vijay has a lot of young and middle-aged women fans, but as voters, they are possibly now with the DMK, or remain with the AIADMK. Recapturing this constituency would have helped Vijay's political launch and the GOAT script and dialogues could have gone a long way in helping out. But the kind of script and screenplay and the unusually and equally unnecessary long run-time (3 hours, 3 minutes) that GOAT offers takes the film experience over the heads of those that are not familiar with secret agents and uranium theft in Tamil cinema, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rajinikanth -- the one and only Thailavaa -- visited an exhibition that showcased 120 photographs featuring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's personal and public life to mark the DMK leader's 70th birthday at the Raja Annamalai Mandram in Chennai.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP often forgets that in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, the voter does not mix religion, which is personal, and politics that is in the public sphere, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In focus are the assembly polls in 2026. From a BJP perspective, their attack on the ruling DMK, using the 'Hindutva' card, and Annamalai's targeting of both Dravidian majors on corruption has not worked, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and allies far ahead in all the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state and 1 in neighbouring Puducherry, it appears the outcome, for the Stalin-led Dravidian party will be similar to the success of the popular flick Baahubali.
They try to hide behind the smokescreen that these are works of fiction inspired by real events. So, you can pick and choose from facts and fictionalise to push the right triggers with your audience or appease the powers that be, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Laluji personally telephoned several Opposition leaders to attend the meeting.'
'With passage of time, Kamal did move away from the humdrum of commercial cinema, using it only as a peg to launch a new concept or new technology, as no other actor/film-maker has done in Indian cinema.' N Sathiya Moorthy assesses the career and politics of movie legend Kamal Haasan on his 70th brthday.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Where do Vijay and his TVK expect to get their votes from? Vijay has a huge fan following among women, but will they automatically become his voters like they had done for MGR's AIADMK, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
