DMK workers die of heart attack after hearing about Karunanidhi’s death

“All the government offices, schools, and colleges will be closed tomorrow”, read the govt statement. But when the Eelam struggle entered its final phase leading to the LTTE’s destruction in 2009 Karunanidhi could only remain a hapless spectator as he had to balance his pro-Tamil image while safeguarding his government’s survival in the state.

Mr Karunanidhi was admitted to Kauvery Hospital on July 28 after suffering a drop in his blood pressure and a urinary tract infection.

A medical bulletin released by the Kauvery Hospital at 6.30 pm on Monday said there has been a decline in the medical condition of Karunanidhi.

Huge number of supporters have congregated outside the hospital where Karunanidhi is admitted for treatment. Many were seen weeping and chanting slogans hailing the leader.

Karunanidhi, who always appeared in public with dark glasses and a yellow shawl draped on a shoulder, built his career fighting oppression by Brahmins, a priestly community at the top of the Hindu caste system.

In a series of tweets, Modi said: “Deeply saddened by the passing away of Kalaignar Karunanidhi”.

Karunanidhi was first elected to the Tamil Nadu assembly in 1957 from the Kulithalai assembly of Thiruchirapalli district. While a senior DMK leader said the Tamil Nadu government was yet to respond to the party’s request for giving space near Anna memorial, the state government said it was willing to give land for his burial near Gandhi Mandapam.

In 1974, about 14 years before the Union government’s Sarkaria Commission studied Centre-state relations, the DMK government under Karunanidhi passed a resolution in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on state autonomy based on the recommendations of the Rajamannar Committee.

September 17, 1949: Among the “Founding members” of the DMK at the rally at Robinson Park in old North Madras, where DMK was launched.

The Tamil word can be translated into “scholar of arts”. The movie did not just have an enormous impact on Tamil cinema, but also enormously influenced Tamil Nadu’s political scene.

“As the DMK began to engage in electoral politics, the hard edge of social reform in its films was softened and the films increasingly became vehicles for promoting the party as such rather than reform ideology”.

Mr Karunanidhi is survived by his two wives and six children.