Kanimozhi

Akka
M. K. Kanimozhi
MP of Rajya Sabha for Tamil Nadu
Assumed office
25 July 2013
Constituency Tamil Nadu
Personal details
Born (1968-01-05) 5 January 1968
Madras, Madras State, India
(now Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)
Political party DMK
Spouse(s) Athiban Bose (1989–1997)[1]
G. Aravindaan (1997-Present)
Relations See Karunanidhi family
Children A. A. Adithya
Parents M. Karunanidhi (father)
Rajathi Ammal (mother)
Residence Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Muthuvel Karunanidhi Kanimozhi (born 5 January 1968) is an Indian politician, poet and journalist. She is a Member of Parliament, representing 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 Karunanidhi and his third wife Rajathi Ammal.

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 former union minister and M. K. Stalin former Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu respectively. Her father, M. Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, died on 7 August 2018.

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]

Kanimozhi has also written Tamil poetry.

Interests

Kanimozhi has been known to support pan-Tamil issues.[4] She takes part in organizing women empowerment programs[5] 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.[6]

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[7] DMK efforts to organize 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, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli. She plans to conduct similar fairs all over Tamil Nadu.[8]

Literary works

  • Sigarangalil Uraikiradhu Kaalam[9]
  • 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 based on a Tamil epic of the same name with Bombay Jayashri.[10]

Personal life

Kanimozhi was a student of Presentation Convent, Church Park in Chennai and later did her Masters 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. Aravindaan, a Singapore-based Tamil writer, in 1997. She has a son named Adithyan.[11]

Role in national politics : UPA 1 (2004-2009)

In May 2007, the DMK nominated Kanimozhi as one of the party's candidates for the Rajya Sabha.[12] She took oath as Rajya Sabha member along with A. Raja in July.[13]

2G spectrum case

As per the chargesheet filed by CBI, Kanimozhi has 100% 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. CBI alleges that A 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.[14]

During the course of the trial, Kanimozhi's name has been cleared by at least one witness who has 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 TV Board after only two weeks to become a Member of Parliament. In an extraordinary twist,on 21st December 2017 a special CBI court acquitted her along with 19 others accused including A Raza 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.

References

  1. ↑ "The Big and Mighty Karuna family". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Detailed Profile: Smt. Kanimozhi". Govt. of India. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Kanimozhi: A poetess politician in trouble". Sify.com. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Kanimozhi the rising daughter in Tamil Nadu?. Dnaindia.com (2007-03-07). Retrieved on 2012-03-27.
  5. ↑ "Fight against injustice, Kanimozhi tells women". The Hindu. Chennai, India. March 24, 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  6. ↑ Karuthu. Karuthu. Retrieved on 2012-03-27.
  7. ↑ V. Mallady, Shastry (November 11, 2008). "Private companies urged to participate in rural job fairs". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  8. ↑ ADMK job fairs a big draw in rural areas Archived May 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "Dravidian ideals will remain the central theme: Kanimozhi". The Hindu. Chennai, India. September 15, 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  10. ↑ Classic in a new idiom. Hinduonnet.com (2004-03-31). Retrieved on 2012-03-27.
  11. ↑ "A Wedding In The Family ...", Rediff News, retrieved 2010-12-09
  12. ↑ "Kanimozhi, Tiruchi N. Siva, DMK nominees for Rajya Sabha polls". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
  13. ↑ "Kanimozhi, Raja take oath as RS members". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
  14. ↑ "I am not involved in day-to-day running of Kalaignar TV". The Times Of India.
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