MGR & Karunanidhi: How a shared passion parted two men

By R Kannan
Two score and nine years ago, on this epochal day, matinee idol and DMK’s third leader and party treasurer, M G Ramachandran (MGR) announced the formation of the Anna DMK. Four days earlier, MGR had been thrown out by the DMK. His sin: On October 8, 1972, he had publicly called out the DMK when he demanded that ministers, legislators and party functionaries from topdown account for their income and assets and those of their families.
Chief minister, party president, and 27-year-long friend Karunanidhi’s new moniker for MGR, whom he had once christened Puratchi Nadigar, was “Judas”, a “tax evader” and “quisling”.MGR responded in kind by dubbing him an “evil force.” A DMK propaganda song that once had celebrated MGR as ‘our son,’ now sang a different refrain: Our pet ‘ram’, rammed our heart; And fell flat to traitors’ plot.

A euphemism that suggested MGR had fallen prey to the machinations of Congress-I. In their better days, only a year earlier, Karunanidhi had eulogised MGR as “an invincible hero before and after,” and wished for his fame alongside the South, so that “The hearts of those like me who had risen because of you, exult!” In 1970, MGR had seen Karunanidhi as “Another Anna.” What had gone amiss?
In 1946, Rajakumari had brought the dashing hero and the gifted scriptwriter together. Its success saw a spate of movies such as Abhimanyu, Marudhanaatu Ilavarasi, Mandhirikumari, Naam, Malaikallan, Kanchithalaivan, Engal Thangam, Pudhumaipithan and Arasilangkumari and some others to great acclaim. Thanks to Karunanidhi, MGR, a Congressman, was won over to the DMK.
Unable to compete with the formidable duo, E V K Sampath and his followers exited the DMK in 1961. In 1969, Karunanidhi succeeded Anna as chief minister and party leader, courtesy MGR. MGR had been made treasurer. Karunanidhi had become Kalaignar and Thalaivar.

He wished to be his own man, but the masses went into raptures for one man like no other: MGR. The scriptwriter, therefore, chose to craft a different script for his hero now. As each dealt slights to the other, matters soon came to a head.
By expelling MGR, Karunanidhi had unwittingly repaid his debt to his friend in full: forcing MGR the caterpillar to metamorphose into a butterfly; turning him from an actor-politician to a political leader. MGR was no more his Puratchi Nadigar. He had catapulted him to Puratchi Thalaivar.
The next 15 years saw the two accuse each other of villainy and venality. MGR’s charges led to the Sarkaria Commission denting Karunanidhi’s image. As chief minister, MGR itched to slap criminal charges using the commission’s findings. Day in and day out, Karunanidhi derided MGR as a ‘buffoon’ and alleged he was on the take. The Ray Commission and the dismissal of MGR’s government followed – thanks to Karunanidhi’s renewed ties with Indira Gandhi. Yet, the first 27 years of their friendship proved stronger, resilient, and sometimes tender.
Ambitious, both shared a past of singular struggle. In their do-or-die early years, their mothers treated the other child as their own; the bond was so thick that they sometimes ate from the same plate. During their humble beginnings, they had lived under the same roof and had shared joys and sorrows.
Each, therefore, had a grudging respect for the other, often leaving their followers confounded. They smiled at each other, engaged in reunification talks, showed up holding hands at Tamilisai’s wedding (now governor) where MGR exhorted the couple to learn from their friendship.
And what a friendship it was: MGR would send Karunanidhi an ambulance even as he led a long march against him. Karunanidhi would advise Duraimurugan to ‘propose or second’ MGR’s candidacy for a honoris causa doctorate. An atheist he would ‘supplicate’ when his friend fell seriously ill.
In the 1984 elections, Karunanidhi said he would step down if elected and turn over the government to his friend being treated in the US even as he seriously questioned MGR’s recovery and his ability to govern. A triumphant MGR abolished the Legislative Council to pre-empt Karunanidhi becoming the Leader of the Opposition.
Yet, in the early hours of Christmas eve, on December 24, 1987, a sorrowful Karunanidhi repaired to Ramavaram to pay his final respects to his most charismatic friend, MGR. A moving eulogy befitting their deep friendship followed even as DMK flags flew at half-mast to mark their unsevered bond.
(The writer is the biographer of Anna and MGR)