The life & times of ‘Kalaignar’

Thousands turned out on the streets of Madras to bid Annadurai farewell as he was laid to rest at a memorial on Marina Beach.

Karunanidhi, by this time, had gathered support for himself amongst the key younger leaders of the party. The next in line to Anna was ‘Naavalar’ (poet) CR Nedunchezhian, a towering figure of the DMK, who, along with Anna, was a founder member of the party.

As early as 1959, Karunanidhi, according to old-timers in the party as well as senior journalists in the state, had successfully manipulated Annadurai into making a public display of his affection for Karunanidhi, in the process indicating that he was next in line as leader of the party.

Karunanidhi himself writes of this episode at a meeting of DMK cadre held on 15 April 1959 at Marina Beach, following a huge victory in the local body polls that year. In Nenjukku Needhi, Karunanidhi recollects Anna’s words:

People have told me that only Karunanidhi can lead us to victory in this election. I said it is not possible. My words were hasty. I regret them now. ‘If we win, what will you give me?’ Karunanidhi had asked. Under the impression that I wouldn’t have to give anything, I had said I will give him a one ‘pound’ gold ring. I have never gone to a jewellery shop to buy anything even for my wife. But since these forty-five young rogues have managed to snatch a huge victory, I went to the store myself and bought a ring for this young bull [Karunanidhi]…This ring is not the fruit of his efforts. It symbolises the enormous affection and love that Karunanidhi has in my heart.

Senior journalists in the state, though, recount that Karunanidhi had in fact played a trick on Anna. They say that Karunanidhi had himself bought the ring and privately requested Anna to appreciate him in front of the cadre. This, they say, is characteristic of how keen a politician Karunanidhi was and how he systematically sidelined any opposition to his ascension as leader of the DMK.

In 1944, once Karunanidhi got the go-ahead from Periyar to leave behind his writing and editing duties in Kudiyarasu magazine, he agreed to producer A.S.A. Samy’s offer to write the screenplay for the film Rajakumari. The movie house Jupiter Films had decided to cast a fair, young Malayalee as the lead actor in the film.

Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, or MGR as he eventually came to be known, was dressed in a khadi shirt with a rudraksha maala around his neck. An ardent follower of Gandhi and a member of the Congress party, MGR met the young Karunanidhi and they quickly struck up a friendship.

‘I would give him books written by Anna. He would give me books by Gandhi. We would debate over these often,’ recalls Karunanidhi in Nenjukku Needhi.

Karunanidhi would go on to pen the screenplay for the film Manthiri Kumari, which released in 1950 and was produced by TR Sundaram of Modern Theatres. Karuna, by then an acclaimed film scriptwriter, would recommend the young MGR for a key role in the film. It was a box-office blockbuster and MGR was catapulted to stardom almost overnight.

Senior journalists in Tamil Nadu speak of how, after Karunanidhi took over from Annadurai as the chief minister, MGR met with him to congratulate him. At the same time, he demanded the post of health minister. Karunanidhi is said to have given the cine star an ultimatum – give up acting if you want to become a minister – knowing full well that MGR’s strength was his mass adulation, a result of his on-screen image as a saviour of the people.

AIADMK leaders speak of two incidents that showed them clearly how MGR respected his arch rival. Kulandaivelu, an AIADMK leader, was once slapped by MGR when he mentioned the name Karunanidhi. ‘Who are you to call him by his name? What status have you got? He is my thalaivar [leader] and I myself call him Kalaignar,’ MGR is said to have chastised him.

Another instance was when MGR was travelling in a car on a highway along with some of his trusted acolytes. Jeppiar, who went on to become a liquor and education baron, was amongst the passengers. Jeppiar is said to have used foul words to describe Karunanidhi, following which a furious MGR stopped the car and made Jeppiar get out and walk back to Chennai.

When MGR fell seriously ill in 1984, Karunanidhi wrote in Murasoli, wishing his friend a speedy recovery, reminiscing about their days spent together as young wannabe cine workers. But in the wee hours of 24 December 1987, the matinee idol succumbed to a cardiac arrest.

‘Kalaignar had just reached Central station at 5 am by train from either Erode or Coimbatore, I do not remember which,’ says Duraimurugan. ‘He was informed about MGR’s death as soon as he arrived. He rushed straight to Ramavaram Gardens and garlanded his late friend, even before the announcement of his death was made.’

Duraimurugan recounts that it would have been impossible for Karunanidhi to have stayed by his friend’s side in the mourning crowds. ‘But only I was there with Kalaignar on the day MGR died. He was staying at a friend’s house near Sivaji Ganesan’s residence in T. Nagar. He cried all day for his friend. He never ate a morsel of food that day,’ he says.

In 2009, the Central Vigilance Commission began a probe into the allegations of corruption in the 2G case. By October 2009, the CBI had stepped in, under directions from the Supreme Court, filing an FIR against unknown officials of the DoT and unknown private companies. By September 2009, the Supreme Court had put a number to the alleged scam – Rs 70,000 crore. A month later, the alleged scam exploded.

‘Even before I could get into the issuance of licences or allocation of spectrum, one telecom bigwig, Sivasankaran [C. Sivasankaran, promoter of Aircel], approached the Hindu editor [N. Ram],’ says Raja.

‘Sivasankaran approached me also and I told him I want to be transparent,’ says Raja. ‘once the cut-off date was advanced, my leader called me and said ‘Hindu Ram spoke to me and said there was something wrong with the spectrum process’. I then explained to Kalaignar all about spectrum and why we were not going in for an auction.

Kalaignar understood immediately. He said that there will be pressure on you from bureaucrats. Even before we took a final decision on spectrum allocation, I had told Kalaignar about the whole process, our thinking and the plan.’

Karunanidhi, according to Raja, then told him to meet N. Ram. ‘You may be a minister, but he is a big man and you must show respect. Go to him and explain everything just the way you explained it to me’ – was Karunanidhi’s advice to Raja.

‘I went straight to Ram’s house and explained all over again,’ says Raja. ‘I even drew diagrams to simplify the concept. He accepted that there was nothing murky in this.’ ‘‘Afterwards, I again told my leader that this is a very dangerous step I was taking and that there would be trouble from a powerful telecom cartel that I was trying to break and that there would be a lot of heat,’ continues Raja. ‘Thalaivar simply said – go ahead and do what you have to. And he backed me all the way.’

When queried about this anecdote, N. Ram differs on the sequence of events. ‘I did not have any request from Sivasankaran, absolutely not,’ he says. ‘What I heard from industry sources, including Sivasankaran, was that there was a big fix in the 2G spectrum policy. We knew the policy was going to be changed but we did not know the shape of it at that time. We did not know the date was going to be changed, to sort of fix the match, we had no details at that time. Industry sources told me there was going to be some sort of corrupt deal, some skullduggery if you like. I went to tell the Chief Minister Kalaignar about this. I don’t want to reveal too much but he said he will explain to me. He called up Raja over the phone and told him – ‘En peyara kedutthuraadha’ (don’t ruin my reputation).’ Ram agrees that Raja spent several hours with him, explaining the entire 2G process.

Extract from Sandhya Ravishankar’s book, ‘Karunanidhi: A life in politics’