CHENNAI:Rejecting allegations of AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa that he had amassed wealth in public life, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today declared his assets, saying he possessed nothing more than a house at Chennai and a little over Rs six crore deposits in a bank.
"It is not true that I came to Chennai penniless. I had started earning even before settling down here....' the DMK patriarch, who has come under repeated attacks from Jayalalithaa, wrote in party mouthpiece 'Murasoli'.
He said he had made enough money in his early days as a playwright and scriptwriter for various Tamil films.
"I was paid Rs 10,000 in those days when my play 'Manthiri Kumari' was made into a film by (noted comedian), late N S Krishnan. He later even gifted me a car in Chennai when I won a bet with him," Karunanidhi said.
The 87-year-old DMK chief said the house he is now residing in was bought many years ago for Rs 45,000 and despite his party colleagues insistence, had never stayed in an official residence, either as minister or Chief Minister.
"In fact, this house is so small that my children now live in separate homes bought by them," Karunanidhi, whose son M K Stalin is the deputy Chief Minister, said. His second son M K Alagiri is a union minister and Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi an MP.
He said he had written screenplays for more than 75 Tamil films and used the revenue earned for philanthropic purposes.
He owns no other property other than his house at Chennai.
Recalling the birth and growth of Sun TV from his nephew, the late Murasoli Maran's times, he said when the latter's son Kalanidhi Maran wanted to run the management by himself, he (Karunanidhi) had received his share of Rs 100 crore.
"I was left with Rs 77.50 crore after paying taxes and divided it among my sons and daughters. I was left with Rs 10 crore. I deposited Rs five crore from that towards creatingg a Kalaignar Karunanidhi Trust and have been helping the poor from the interest received on that amount," he said.
"I possess a sum of Rs 5.65 crore as Fixed Deposit and Rs 35.90 lakh in savings bank account," he said.
Karunanidhi said he had earned Rs 21 lakh in 2004-05 by writing screenplays for two Tamil films but had donated it towards the tsunami relief fund. He said Stalin had himself handed over the money to Jayalalithaa,the then Chief Minister.
Karunanidhi said he had even donated the house he is now living in to be made into a hospital after his death.
He said he was the first DMK leader to buy a house and a car in Chennai even before holding any post. He also said his relatives had never been given any government aid.
Making a sarcastic comment on purchase of a piece of land owned by Tamil Nadu government by a company of which Jayalalithaa was a partner, he said he never got any land from the government at a cheaper price.
He said he had come from a reasonably well-off family and that was why his parents had sent him to a school to Tiruvarur, some distance away from his native village Tirukuvalai.