Durai Murugan posts tell-all message about M Karunanidhi’s health

His statement raises doubts that perhaps not all was well with DMK president M Karunanidhi’s health and all the confidence building messages parroted by his family, including his son and party working president MK Stalin may not have been entirely accurate. 

As much as he put to bed speculation about his ill-health, Duraimurugan had also spilled the beans. In an emotionally moving message posted on his Facebook page, Durai Murugan expressed his excitement over his political guru even identifying him. Durai Murugan said doctors advised Karunanidhi to speak after removing the tracheostomy tube from his throat a couple of days of ago. He wrote, “I asked him what his name is? He said his name is Karunanidhi. I asked him to name the person he liked the most? He said Anna. When I asked him to identify me, he blurted out, Durai, leaving me teary eyed.” As a parting shot, he said, “Kalaignar (94), the diamond jubilee hero, will bounce back.” 

The message has vindicated the fears of a few, who suspected that age might have got the better of the seasoned politician in him and his active years of politicking, mainly his roaring political rhetoric could be over. That Durai Murugan was excited about Karunanidhi identifying him sufficiently explains the condition the nonagenarian might have been in. 

In giving a frank update on his leader’s health condition, Durai Murugan may have given a thin ray of hope to some DMK cadre, who had badly missed their leader during one of the most eventful periods of Tamil Nadu politics since December 15, when he was admitted to a private hospital for optimisation of malnutrition, which, strangely though, warranted tracheostomy procedure which kept him off the media glare.

However, the message is no guarantee that the nonagenarian would rub shoulders with national leaders when they descend on Chennai next month to celebrate his diamond jubilee year as MLA. Stalin has sufficiently reiterated that doctors would take a call on the DMK patriarch making a public appearance on June 3.