Kanimozhi Karunanidhi

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (born 5 January 1968) is an Indian politician, poet and journalist. She is a Member of Parliament, representing Thoothukudi constituency in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's Parliament). She was also a former MP, represented Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India's Parliament).[2] Kanimozhi is the daughter of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi and his third wife Rajathi Ammal.

For the 2010 Tamil film, see Kanimozhi (film).
In this Indian name, the name Muthuvel Karunanidhi is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Kanimozhi.

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi
Kanimozhi Karunanidhi in December 2019
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
23 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byJeyasingh Thiyagaraj Natterjee
ConstituencyThoothukkudi
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
25 July 2007 – 23 May 2019
Leader of the House
Preceded byS. G. Indira
Succeeded byP. Wilson
ConstituencyTamil Nadu
Chairperson of Chemicals & Fertilizers Standing Committee
Assumed office
13 September 2019
Union MinisterD. V. Sadananda Gowda
Preceded byAnandrao Vithoba Adsul
Chairman of Thoothukudi Airport Advisory Committee
Assumed office
18 June 2019
Preceded byJeyasingh Thiyagaraj Natterjee
Deputy Leader of DMK in Lok Sabha
Assumed office
18 June 2019
LeaderT. R. Baalu
Women's Wing Secretary of DMK
Assumed office
9 January 2015
PresidentM. Karunanidhi,
M. K. Stalin
Personal details
Born (1968-01-05) 5 January 1968
Madras, Madras State, India
(present-day Chennai, Tamil Nadu)
CitizenshipIndian
Political partyDravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Spouse(s)
  • Athiban Bose
    ​
    (
    m. 1989; div. 1997)
    [1]
G. Aravindan
(
m. after 1997)
RelationsSee Karunanidhi family
Children1 Son (Aditya Aravindan)
ParentsM. Karunanidhi (father)
Rajathi Ammal (mother)
Residence14-I, First Main Road, CIT Colony, Mylapore, Chennai-600004, Tamil Nadu
EducationMaster of Economics
Alma materEthiraj College for Women

Kanimozhi belongs to the Indian Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) political party, where she functions as the chief of the DMK's wing for Art, Literature and Rationalism and is seen as her father's "literary heir".[3]Her half-brothers M. K. Alagiri and M. K. Stalin are the former Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and the former Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu respectively.

Early life

Before her entry into politics, Kanimozhi was involved in journalism, such as sub editor for The Hindu, editor in charge of Kungumam (a Tamil weekly magazine ), and a features editor for a Singapore based Tamil newspaper called Tamil Murasu.[3]

Social Works

Interests

Kanimozhi has been known to support pan-Tamil issues.[4][5] She takes part in organising women empowerment programs[6] and is interested in the welfare of differently abled people and transgender people. In 2005, with Karthi Chidambaram, she founded a portal supporting free speech.[7]

In 2007, Kanimozhi conceived the idea of the Chennai Sangamam, an annual open Tamil cultural festival, usually held during the Pongal season.

Job fairs

She spearheads[8] DMK efforts to organise job fairs, under the banner 'Kalaignar 85' across rural Tamil Nadu to facilitate employment opportunities for young people in smaller cities, towns and villages.[3] Begun as a small employment drive to mark the birthday of DMK President Kalaignar Karunanidhi in June 2008 at Kariyapatti (a village in Virudhunagar District) job fairs have provided jobs to about 1,33,000 unemployed youth spread across nine districts. Places it has been held include Nagercoil, Vellore, Udhagamandalam, Virudhunagar, Cuddalore, Tiruchirapalli, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. She plans to conduct similar fairs all over Tamil Nadu.[9]

Literary works
  • Sigarangalil Uraikiradhu Kaalam[10]
  • Agathinai
  • Paarvaigal
  • Karukkum Marudhaani
  • Karuvarai Vaasanai

Her literary works were translated into English, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada.

Silappathikaram

Kanimozhi has worked on a production titled Silappadikaram, A woman of Substance based on a Tamil epic of the same name with Bombay Jayashri.[11]

Personal life

Kanimozhi was a student of Presentation Convent, Church Park in Chennai and later did her master's degree in economics in Ethiraj College for Women from the Madras University.[3] She has been married twice; firstly in 1989 to Athiban Bose, a businessman from Sivakasi, and then to G. Aravindan, a Singapore-based Tamil writer, in 1997. She has a son named Aditya Aravindan.[12]

Political career

In May 2007, the DMK nominated Kanimozhi as one of the party's candidates for the Rajya Sabha.[13] She became a Rajya Sabha member for the second time in 2013. Kanimozhi was the leader of the DMK in the house and was the voice of the state of Tamil Nadu in the Upper house. She was elected from Thoothukudi for the 17th Lok Sabha which was held in the year 2019 and was elected as a DMK's deputy leader of the parliament. As of September 2019, Kanimozhi works as a chairperson of Parliament Standing Committee for Chemicals and Fertilizers.[14]

As a Trade Union leader

She is the president of The Hindu National Press employees union. She is the first woman to be elected to that post.[15]

Secretary to the DMK Women's Wing

She is the secretary to the DMK party's Women's wing and encourages women to enter into politics. She has organised training camps for the district level office bearers of women's wing. She also organised a rally in Delhi demanding the Women's reservation bill to be passed by the parliament.[16]

Elections contested and positions held

Kanimozhi has been elected as MP of Lok Sabha from Thooththukkudi constituency. This was her first direct electoral performance. She resigned her Rajya Sabha MP post on 29 May 2019 after being elected to 17th Lok Sabha.[17]

Lok Sabha Election
Elections Constituency Party Result Vote percentage Opposition Candidate Opposition Party Opposition vote percentage
2019 Indian general electionThooththukkudiDMKWon56.77Tamilisai SoundararajanBJP21.77

Posts in Parliament of India
Year Constituency Position From To
2007Tamil NaduMember of Parliament, Rajya Sabha25 July 200729 May 2019
2019ThooththukkudiMember of Parliament, Lok Sabha18 June 2019Incumbent

2G spectrum case

As per the chargesheet filed by CBI, Kanimozhi has 20% stake in her family owned Kalaignar TV, her step-mother Dayalu Ammal owns 60% stake in the same channel. CBI alleged that Kanimozhi was an "active brain" behind the channel's operations and she worked along with former telecom minister A. Raja to get DB Realty promoter Shahid Balwa to circuitously route 2 billion (US$36.2 million) to Kalaignar TV. According to CBI, Kanimozhi was in regular touch with A. Raja regarding launching of Kalaignar TV channel and its other pending works. A. Kanimozhi had spent 190 days in Tihar Jail in 2011 after the CBI named her an "active brain" behind the functioning and setting up of Kalaignar TV.[18] Raja was further pursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV not only for getting registration of the company from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting but also for getting it in the DTH operator TATA Sky's bouquet. She was also summoned by the Income Tax Department, Chennai for alleged tax evasion charges.

On 3 July 2012, briefing the joint parliamentary committee probing the scam, ED claimed that it has enough evidence to convict DMK chief Karunanidhi's wife and daughter Kanimozhi.

Kanimozhi has defended herself by arguing that she is only a 20% shareholder in the company, who has no involvement in the financial aspects or the liability of a director.[19]

During the course of the trial, Kanimozhi's name was cleared by at least one witness who deposed that she had no involvement in the day-to-day affairs of Kalaignar TV and that she was initially reluctant to join the management of the channel. It was also admitted in court that Kanimozhi resigned from Kalaignar board after only two weeks to become a Member of Parliament. In an extraordinary twist, on 21 December 2017 a special CBI court acquitted her along with 19 others accused including A. Raja in 2G spectrum allocation cases. The Court said that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of its charge. Thus all accused are acquitted.

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References
  1. "The Big and Mighty Karuna family". Daily News and Analysis. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  2. "Detailed Profile: Smt. Kanimozhi". Govt. of India. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  3. "Kanimozhi: A poetess politician in trouble". Sify.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  4. Kanimozhi the rising daughter in Tamil Nadu?. Dnaindia.com (7 March 2007). Retrieved on 27 March 2012.
  5. "'Why does god need gunman to protect hundiyal?': Kanimozhi's speech rankles Hindu group". 11 January 2018.
  6. "Fight against injustice, Kanimozhi tells women". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  7. Karuthu Archived 26 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Karuthu. Retrieved on 27 March 2012.
  8. V. Mallady, Shastry (11 November 2008). "Private companies urged to participate in rural job fairs". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  9. "ADMK job fairs a big draw in rural areas". Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  10. "Dravidian ideals will remain the central theme: Kanimozhi". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  11. Classic in a new idiom Archived 25 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Hinduonnet.com (31 March 2004). Retrieved on 27 March 2012.
  12. "A Wedding In The Family ...", Rediff News, retrieved 9 December 2010
  13. "Kanimozhi, Tiruchi N. Siva, DMK nominees for Rajya Sabha polls". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  14. "BJP MPs head most panels, outnumber opposition in committees". Economic Times. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  15. "Kanimozhi is the Hindu staff union president". The Hindu. 12 April 2017.
  16. "DMK holds rally in Delhi to demand early passage of Women's Bill".
  17. "Amit Shah, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kanimozhi resign as Rajya Sabha members after being elected to 17th Lok Sabha". DNA India. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  18. "Report about Kanamozhi on 2G case". Indian Express.
  19. "I am not involved in day-to-day running of Kalaignar TV". The Times Of India.
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