The first special thing about DMK President Muthuvel Karunanidhi is that he’s the first ever Indian leader to enter the 50th year of leadership of a political party. This extraordinary achievement owes to many reasons, some visible and and some invisible. If we talk about the visible ones, M. Karunanidhi is an eloquent orator, a witty writer, and an influential politician. And if we talk about the invisible ones, it’s Karunanidhi’s ability to mould the general opinion into his favor that did not let any other deserving leader in DMK rise as high as him. According to reports, Karunanidhi once compared himself to Franklin Roosevelt, who is the only American president to be elected four times.
The DMK President is a figure who is just not restricted to the horizons of Politics. He has also been a popular writer –writing screenplays for Tamil films and contributing to Tamil language and literature through his various poems, books, stories, and letters. Not only this, Karunanidhi has also made his contribution in the field of architecture. He constructed a 133-foot-high statue of the Tamil scholar Thiruvalluvar in his honor. Some of the pieces of Tamil literature written by him include Sanga Thamizh, Thirukkural Urai, Ponnar Sankar, Romapuri Pandian, Thenpandi Singam, Vellikizhamai, Nenjukku Needhi, Iniyavai Irubathu and Kuraloviam.
Karunanidhi became a scriptwriter at the age of 20. Born on June 3rd 1924, the DMK President joined the party in 1964. He became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1969 for the first time. The awards and titles that he has bagged in his lifetime are:
• Title of doctorate by Annamalai University in 1971.
• "Raja Rajan Award" by Tamil University, Thanjavur for his book Thenpandi Singam.
• Title of "Friend of the Muslim Community" (Yaaran-E-Millath) by Tamil Nadu Muslim Makkal Katchi in 2007.
