The Political Journey Of KarunaNidhi
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- Category: TamilNadu Political News
- Last Updated: Wednesday, 08 August 2018 13:31
The political journey of M Karunanidhi
Karunanidhi, who was affectionately called 'Kalaignar' by his supporters, left an impregnable impression on the political map of the southern Indian state. Here is a look at his political journey-
June 3, 1924 | Born as Dakshinamurthy into a rural household in Thirukkuvalai in Nagapattinam district
1938 | Joins Justice Party, later Dravida Kazhagam takes part in anti-Hindi agitations
1942 | Circulates 8-page handwritten newspaper, Manavar Nesan, which later becomes Murasoli, the official DMK newspaper; later founds Tamil Nadu Tamil Manavar Mandram, a student organisation that grew into DMK student wing
1944 | Joins Jupiter Pictures as a screenwriter
1947 | Release of the first film he scripted, Rajakumari
1949 | Joins Annadurai, who breaks away from Dravidar Kazhagam to form DMK
1952 | Hit film Parasakthi releases; scripted by Karunanidhi, it is the first film to propagate ideas of Dravidian movement
1953 | Makes headlines by leading Kallakudi demonstration against the renaming of the town as Dalmiapuram, after a cement mogul; lies on railway tracks to make his point; jailed for three months
1957 | Elected for the first time to TN assembly from Kulithalai; has not lost an election since
1961| Becomes DMK treasurer
1962 | Becomes deputy leader of opposition in the assembly
1967 | Becomes public works minister in the cabinet of C N Annadurai after DMK comes to power for the first time
1969 | Becomes chief minister for the first time after Annadurai’s death
1972 | After falling out with Karunanidhi, MGR breaks away and forms AIADMK
1976 | Indira Gandhi dismisses DMK govt on charges of corruption
1977 | AIADMK comes to power, Karunanidhi sits in opposition for next 13 years
1989 | Karunanidhi and DMK return to power after MGR’s death
January 1991 | Centre dismisses DMK govt allegedly for being too close to LTTE
May 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi assassinated; AIADMK-Congress combine sweeps polls
1996 | Unseats Jayalalithaa and returns to power after Rajinikanth endorses DMK-TMC combine
2001 | Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK govt arrests him on charges of corruption with Stalin, Maran
2004 | DMK-led alliance wins 40 seats in Lok Sabha polls, gets 7 Union minister posts
2006 | Returns to power as CM for the fifth time
2009 | Undergoes spinal surgery, confined to wheelchair thereafter
2010 | Union telecom minister A Raja linked to 2G spectrum scam
2011 | Daughter Kanimozhi arrested in 2G scam case; DMK loses assembly polls
Jan 2013 | Names Stalin his heir apparent
March 2013 | Quit UPA, pulls ministers back from Centre over Eelam Tamils issue
2014 | Expels older son Alagiri from a party; after a long and tiring campaign, ailing Karunanidhi loses state assembly polls but retains his seat of Tiruvarur
2016 | Admitted to hospital and released after a few days