By IANS
Chennai : A controversy is sparked every time DMK patriarch and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi writes a poem these days.
The latest is a poem he penned in Wednesday’s edition of Murasoli, the party organ, seen as “an indirect warning” to the Maran brothers, Dayanidhi, a former minister, and Kalanidhi, a media magnate.
In November, the chief minister sparked a row by writing a poem in memory of the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers leader, S.P. Tamilselvam.
Amid reports that Dayanidhi Maran, who continues to be a DMK MP, has met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Karunanidhi warned in his poem: “There are countless cadres to defeat” inimical forces, particularly “the one who grew up plying on my shoulders” and “is taking up the sword against me”.
Karunanidhi said in his poem: “Even today I cry remembering all that”, referring to the late Murasoli Maran, Dayanidhi’s father and Karunanidhi’s nephew, who was the political protégé of the DMK patriarch.
Addressing the late Maran, Karunanidhi said: “His (Maran senior’s) son is attacking mine (M.K. Azhagiri).
“I belong to the land of (king) Manu Nidhi Chola, who refused to pardon his son because he (the prince) accidentally killed a calf,” Karunanidhi wrote.
This is seen as a warning to the Marans to be careful.
Karunanidhi’s diatribe follows the resurfacing of Dayanidhi Maran during the budget session of parliament, after lying quiet since his resignation from the cabinet last year as the high-profile minister of IT and telecommunication following a spat with the Karunanidhi family.
At the root of the dispute was an opinion poll in the Maran family owned newspaper Dinakaran about Karunanidhi’s two sons, Azhagiri and M.K. Stalin, in August 2007.
Azhagiri supporters had burnt the Madurai office of the newspaper, killing three employees. Karunanidhi forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to drop Dayanidhi from his cabinet.
Maran has been lying low since then, saying he was “devoting time to family business”.
The Dinakaran newspaper carried large advertisements Feb 24 from the DMK’s rival AIADMK on its leader J. Jayalalitha’s 60th birthday.
This led to rumours that Dayanidhi was joining the AIADMK, which he has denied stoutly saying the advertisement “was pure business”.
The Maran family’s television network, the Sun group channels, have recently been frequently space to parties and leaders opposed to Karunanidhi. These include Jayalalitha, MDMK’s Vaiko, actors-turned-politicians Vijaykanth and Sarath Kumar and also DMK ally S. Ramadoss of the PMK.
Dayanidhi was seated just behind Railway Minister Lalu Prasad when the latter presented his budget in parliament Monday.
Dayanidhi also shot off a letter of appreciation to Lalu Prasad, saying he wanted budgetary care for the Chennai Central station.
Dayanidhi’s reported meeting with the Congress president has sparked speculation that he might be joining the Congress, ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. He is now the Central Chennai MP from DMK.
There is speculation that Dayanidhi has requested Gandhi to provide him Special Protection Group (SPG) security cover.