Marans meet Karunanidhi on his 85th birthday

CHENNAI: In first signs of possible thaw, former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi Maran on Tuesday met their grand uncle and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and greeted him on his 85th birthday.
 
Dayanidhi was forced to quit as Union minister in May last year after his family-owned newspaper published a survey saying Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin is likely to succeed as political heir to the DMK patriarch.
 
Dayanidhi and Kalanidhi, who heads the Sun Network, met Karunanidhi at his CIT colony residence here and the meeting lasted for 10 minutes.
 
Emerging form the meeting, the brothers refused to speak to the media.
 
The survey had claimed that majority of the respondents had said that Stalin would succeed his father and had shown his elder son Azhagiri, party's strong man in Southern districts, in poor light.
 
Dayanidhi was removed as Union Minister and a show cause notice served to him.

Kalanidhi had met M K Stalin, the younger son of Karunanidhi and a state minister, on his birthday giving rise to speculation that the two families might come together again.