Chennai, May 30: With her two politician brothers having a role cut out for them, Kanimozhi is the only member of the family on whom M Karunanidhi has not bestowed any political benefits. But the youngest daughter (from his third wife Rajathi Ammal), is willing to bide her time.
Kanimozhi, 41, came into political limelight only in 2007 when she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha after Karunanidhi had a spat with his grand-nephews, the Marans. With the families reconciling, Dayanidhi is back in the Union cabinet and, with Karunanidhi’s son MK Azhagiri, will be the party’s face in New Delhi. Kanimozhi was also expected to be in cabinet, but Karunanidhi couldn’t work out the “right formula” this time round as the Congress was on a stronger wicket.
“It is obvious she will be asked to rejuvenate the party, especially rally the women’s wing to face Jayalalithaa in future. There is no woman leader of Jaya’s stature in the DMK and Kanimozhi will have to seriously address this issue,” sources privy to developments in the party told DNA.
“I’ll have to start working on rejuvenating the party from the grassroots. We have so much to do. I’ll work hard to strengthen the party, especially the women’s wing,” Kanimozhi said.
Kanimozhi is an MA in economics. She stays with her mother Rajathi Ammal. Kanimozhi first married a Sivakasi-based businessman, Athiban Bose, in 1989 but the marriage ended in divorce. An active participant at literary meets, Kanimozhi then married G Aravindan, a Singapore-based Tamil literary figure, in 1997. She has a son.
She has dabbled in journalism, working as a sub-editor for an English daily in Chennai and later being editor-in-charge of a Tamil weekly.
She is an active member of the DMK-promoted Forum for Welfare of Ceylon Tamils, a movement started to counter the opposition’s Sri Lanka Tamil Protection Movement during the crisis in Lanka.
She is on the board of directors of Tamil Maiyam, an organisation to promote Tamil literature, arts and culture and started karuthu.com, a forum for free expression of views with Karthi Chidambaram, Union home minister P Chidambaram’s son.
–Agencies