The exit of former union minister Dayanidhi Maran from the union cabinet has come as a catalyst for the rise of M Kanimozhi.
CHENNAI: The exit of former union minister Dayanidhi Maran from the union cabinet has come as a catalyst for the rise of M Kanimozhi, the daughter of his grand uncle M Karunanidhi, in the political arena.
Karunanidhi had not bothered to estimate his 39-year-old daughter’s political potential as long he had his son MK Stalin in state politics and the young Maran at the Centre.
But, after the ‘Dinakaran’ attack, allegedly doctored by his eldest son MK Azhagiri, the chasm in the Karunanidhi-Maran family stood exposed.
It forced Karunanidhi to take a closer look at his daughter’s acumen. For one, Kanimozhi was instrumental in bringing unity within the Karunanidhi family — especially between Azhagiri and Stalin — when the Maran brothers were reportedly plotting against the DMK supremo. Insiders say that Kanimozhi, who was against the Maran brothers as also Stalin for allegedly delaying a surgery which Karunanidhi is to undergo, has finally got her due. And that is recognition from the octogenarian patriarch.
After the DMK decided on Maran’s ouster, when her name was floated as the family’s representative in Delhi, Kanimozhi told DNA: “There are convincing pressures from the family, but I have not decided on anything as yet.”
It is learnt that Karunanidhi, however, is not in a hurry to make his daughter a minister, especially after he stated, in the ‘Dinakaran’ aftermath that “there is no place for dynastic politics in the DMK.”
An alternative would be to give Kanimozhi a major role in the TV channel, which the family is planning to float after severing ties with the Maran family which owns the Sun Network.
When contacted on Tuesday, Kanimozhi said: “I would like to play a role in the TV channel. But being an arts person, I would not involve myself in the administrative aspects.” Karunanidhi’s family might consider launching a new channel or have an active association with an existing one.
Even as talks of the DMK planning to give her a Rajya Sabha ticket did the rounds a couple of months ago, Kanimozhi remained studiously silent.
She found herself at the centre of a controversy when she was named the coordinator for Chennai Sangamam, a government-sponsored cultural extravaganza in February. Meanwhile, the DMK is preparing a transfer list of officers who got placements on Dayanidhi Maran’s recommendation.
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