Unlike Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi ensured his party gets an heir after him

In his passing away, Karunanidhi might leave crores of his cadres in distress, yet unlike his bête noir J. Jayalalithaa, he would not leave his party directionless

On July 29, 94-year-old Muthuvel Karunanidhi completed half a century as the president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) – a rare feat by any measure. Or perhaps not so rare for the man who’s been the chief minister for five terms, an MLA for six decades and someone who’s written over two lakh pages over his life. Much clichéd as it might sound, in his passing away Karunanidhi leaves a vacuum that is hard to fill.

For over half century, Karunanidhi held an unassailable sway over the socio-political milieu of Tamil Nadu. A prolific writer, a successful scriptwriter and an avid theatre-person, there is perhaps no aspect of Tamil life untouched by his genius. He passed away on Tuesday evening.

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