By IANS,
Chennai : It was a happy birthday for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M. Karunanidhi as he turned 86 Wednesday, with his party posting surprise wins in the Lok Sabha elections and securing seven ministerial berths in the central government.
Since morning, birthday greetings began pouring in, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi greeting him on the telephone. The DMK is a Congress ally in the state and in New Delhi.
Karunanidhi visited the memorials of DMK founder and former chief minister C.N. Annadurai and E.V.K. Periyar, founder of the Dravida Kazhagam from which the DMK emerged, with his family members.
Later at the DMK headquarters, central and state ministers, party leaders and hundreds of cadres came to wish their leader.
None of the newly sworn in DMK ministers of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government were present in the Lok Sabha when the prime minister introduced his ministerial team. All of them were in Chennai.
After much haggling, the DMK got seven ministerial posts – three cabinet rank and four ministers of state – in the central council of ministers. Except for T.R. Baalu, none of the other 17 DMK MPs were present in the Lok Sabha Wednesday.
Karunanidhi has been the chief minister of Tamil Nadu five times and has won all the assembly elections he fought since 1957.
His elder son M.K. Azhagiri is the union minister for chemicals and fertilisers, younger son M.K. Stalin is the deputy chief minister while daughter K. Kanimozhi is a Rajya Sabha MP.
Grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran is the union minister for textiles.