CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin presided over the wedding of the grandson of Karunanidhi’s personal secretary K Shanmuganathan, who had served the former chief minister for 50 years and passed away last year.
Presiding over the wedding of Aravindraj and Priyadarshini at Kalaignar Arangam, Stalin reminisced how Karunanidhi, who was the then chief minister, had presided over Shanmuganathan’s wedding in 1971.
“Not just me, my brother Alagiri and all the brothers in the family got the chance to help conduct the wedding as groomsmen. He was one among the family; nobody thought of him as Kalaignar’s personal secretary,” Stalin said.
Remembering how Shanmuganathan came to work for Karunanidhi as a young man, Stalin said Shanmuganathan was initially tasked with taking notes during DMK meetings held by senior leaders, including Karunanidhi, for the reference of the then ruling party, who were looking to thwart any such meetings during the time. When Karunanidhi saw his precise and accurate notes, he asked Shanmuganathan to work for him when DMK eventually came to power in 1967.
Speaking on Shanmuganathan’s relationship with Karunanidhi, Stalin said the duo would bicker on several occasions where an angry Shanmuganathan would be absent from work for two days and then return later. “Shanmuganathan had told me that I should preside over the wedding whether or not he was there. Just as he had said, he could not attend the wedding,” Stalin said.