Karunanidhi's son turns 55 without Sun TV blessing

Mar 1, 2007, 18:00 GMT

Chennai, March 1 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's son M.K. Stalin turned 55 Thursday amid total blackout of his birthday celebrations by a popular Tamil channel even as national channels went head over heels showing hundreds queuing up to greet him.

Huge cut-outs of Stalin and Karunanidhi lined roads in the city Thursday and in the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) headquarters.

Stalin is seen as the automatic choice for the DMK's next chief ministerial candidate.

However, since 2004, there have been other DMK aspirants for the post, including union minister Dayanidhi Maran and Karunanidhi's another son, M.K. Azhagiri.

Azhagiri has now become the king of the state's southern districts following the death of P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan, a DMK stalwart from Madurai.

Two months ago, his birthday was celebrated as colourfully and with as much fanfare as Stalin's by the DMK. The party patriarch went all the way to Madurai to be with his son, who until 2001, was seen as an estranged son.

Another interesting development in Chennai has been the emergence of M.K Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi's daughter, on public platform. Last week, she was not only declared Karunanidhi's literary heir but was also seen splashed across local newspapers, in elder brother Stalin's company during a weeklong cultural bonanza she organised.

So, while the Karunanidhi family has been consolidating itself, noticeable is the blacking out of Stalin, Alzhagiri and Kanimozhi by Sun Television, a major cable network group, run by Kalanidhi Maran, elder son of late Murasoli Maran, a former union minister from the state.

The Sun group with 14 language channels did not even carry a scroll saying Stalin, a former Mayor of Chennai, had turned 55. Instead, they showed a newly-elected mayor of the city taking oath.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service