By any scale of literary and social success from a poverty-drenched family background in Tamil Nadu, poet Kannadasan (1927-1981) was an equal in standing to Karunanidhi. Both were founder members of DMK and parted their political paths in 1961. Since Kannadasan had enjoyed unrivalled success in literary, cinema and journalism arenas, his critique on Karunanidhi’s politics cannot be interpreted as jealousy of a haggler. Thus, it is worth to read some excerpts of Kannadasan’s autobiography, in which Karunanidhi’s skills receive an unflattering portrayal. In these passages, Kannadasan had referred himself in third person singular – He. To quote,

“[In 1963] When Pundit Nehru visited Chennai, he had grown senile. How Nehru had been affected by the untrustworthy deeds of China! He recited a poem to him. An English translation was offered and Jawaharlal had stuck it in his sherwani suit. He then touched his feet and greeted him. The next day, Karunanidhi had satirized this act. Those feet – He had only greeted those feet which had served and labored to free India. Were those feet engaged only in buying houses and collecting property wealth?

He felt elated that one of his poems is safely tucked in Nehru’s sherwani suit. He promptly offered a rebuke to Karunanidhi. He wrote, ‘It’s better to be the tail of a lion than the head of a fly’. Now, when one sees the flag carried by that great man Nehru flattering in the DMK stages, one wishes to query, God, Isn’t this a game of yours?”(‘Manavaasam’ autobiography, p.85).

To provide the context to the above lines, Kannadasan while writing these lines in 1980, had pricked Karunanidhi for his subsequent alignment with the Congress Party headed by Indira Gandhi. On September 30, 1979, in Chennai beach front, Karunanidhi and Indira Gandhi appeared in the same stage and the DMK leader had welcomed Indira with a greeting couplet, ‘Nehruvin Mahale Varuha! Nilaiyaana Aatchi Tharuha’ [Welcome the daughter of Nehru! Give us a Stable Rule!].

On Karunanidhi’s power grab in the Party following Anna’s death in 1969, this is what Kannadasan wrote.

“Some men anticipated Anna’s death with much interest. Even in Anna’s deathbed, campaign for collecting heads had begun. In that Party, Anna was Number 1; Nedunchezhiyan was Number 2. That remained as the consensus. There were serious attempts to break that consensus, after Anna’s death. Whether Naavalar [Nedunchezhiyan] knew it or not, he had felt it clearly. He had learnt the horoscopes of some top rankers of DMK. Anna himself had realized it and he had wished none came to see him, when he was sinking…

After Anna’s death, even MGR had offered his support to Karunanidhi, whether knowing or not (the back-room designs). When the news spread that MGR had offered his support to Karunanidhi, the ranks siding with Karunanidhi increased. Thus, raising Karunanidhi to be the Party’s leader, by ignoring Nedunchezhiyan, had become easy. In those days, Karunanidhi met with MGR in mornings and evenings. In the meeting of Party’s MLAs, Karunanidhi was elected as the leader. Naavalar [Nedunchezhiyan] and Madhavan could only weep in front of Anna’s statue.” (‘Manavaasam’ autobiography, pp.195-197).