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“How can I tolerate mudslinging of the party and the government?”

Special Correspondent

Karunanidhi says he never thought that the Marans will turn against him

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Thursday spelt out the issues and incidents that led to the rift between him and the Maran brothers, Dayanidhi and Kalanithi, owners of the Sun TV Network.

Writing in the party organ Murasoli, he said that even in his dreams he did not think that the sons of his nephew, Murasoli Maran, would turn against him and become his enemies.

Mr. Karunanidhi said he and his family members were given Rs. 100 crore for offloading their stakes in the Sun TV Network group. “What was the compulsion to offload the shares when Sun TV was functioning perfectly? Why were they in a hurry? What was the profit made by Sun TV? I was not interested in knowing about all these details. When many shareholders did not come forward to sign the agreement, I convinced all of them and ensured that there was no bitterness,” the Chief Minister recalled.

On the opinion poll conducted by Dinakaran, which placed Dayanidhi Maran above all other Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu, Mr. Karunanidhi said he had questioned the need for an opinion poll when there was no election. “Is it fair to publish an opinion poll that has given just one per cent support to Anbumani Ramadoss, an alliance partner? Would it not turn the PMK partymen’s anger against the DMK? Will the friends in the Congress welcome granting 27 per cent support to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who has long experience and enjoys support across the country, and crediting Dayanidhi Maran with 64 per cent. Why should they create unnecessary trouble? What purpose is going to be achieved by giving 7 per cent support to DMK Minister T.R. Baalu? Not just me, all the senior politicians of Tamil Nadu found the opinion poll wrong. I was upset after reading it. I personally told Kalanidhi Maran and Dayanidhi Maran to stop the opinion poll. But my advice was rejected,” he said.

Subsequently, another opinion poll on the people’s choice of his heir-apparent projected that M.K. Stalin had the highest acceptability with a 70 per cent rating while M.K. Azhagiri and Kanimozhi polled two per cent votes each. “If the first opinion poll sought to create confusion among allies, the second tried to create confusion among members of the family,” he said.

Mr. Karunanidhi said that when Mr. Azhagiri and Ms. Kanimozhi had laid no claim to being his heir, the Marans had unnecessarily published a poll. “In this poll, Dayanidhi Maran had not included himself. The purpose was to create a divide among Azhagiri, Stalin and Kanimozhi,” he added.

Referring to the attacks on the Dinakaran office in Madurai, the Chief Minister said Mr. Azhagiri might not have been angered by the publication of the opinion poll. “But will his supporters remain silent? So they entered into Dinakaran office and indulged in violence without his knowledge. Though Azhagiri did not approve of the violence, such a situation was created and three innocent employees were killed. Who is responsible for it?”

Mr. Karunanidhi said Sun TV was asked to vacate Anna Arivalayam after the network started launching a campaign against the DMK government, Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veeraswami and Union Minister A. Raja. “As a grandfather I might tolerate this. But how can I tolerate the deliberate mudslinging of the party and the government?” he asked.

Mr. Karunanidhi also published in Murasoli six photographs of the damage caused to Anna Arivalayam after Sun TV vacated the premises. He said everyone who saw the scene, including DMK treasurer Arcot Veeraswami, principal secretary Duraimurugan and senior leader Veerapandi Arumugam, were upset and saddened.

Marans respond

In a letter to Mr. Karunanidhi on Friday, Mr. Kalanidhi Maran said it was on Mr. Karunanidhi’s suggestion and insistence that the division of Sun TV shares was made between the two families. At a press conference, Mr. Dayanidhi Maran said that when the company left Anna Arivalayam and handed over the property to the DMK Trust, 200 photographs were taken, which showed the premises in an “as is where is condition.”

As for the opinion polls published in Dinakaran, he said other newspapers also published such polls.

Kalanithi Maran, in his letter, said: “Please do not keep on levelling false charges against us. In the last one and a half years, when others accused us unnecessarily, we maintained silence. But, today, when you made false charges through the press, we are unable to bear them.”

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