The rise and fall of Dayanidhi Maran

From a young shy businessman to a high-profile union minister, the rise of Dayanidhi Maran was meteoric and so is his fall now.

Until three years ago, he was under the shadow of his better-known businessman brother Kalanidhi, who was successful in building on his own a powerful media empire in the south.

Dayanidhi was taking care of his brother's cable network company and some of the Group's publications.

In 2003, the DMK dealt a severe blow in the death of Union Minister Murasoli Maran, who was the face of DMK in Delhi and was the "conscience of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi".

When the party was looking for a suitable replacement to liaise and coordinate with Delhi, the DMK chief's first choice was Murasoli Maran's first son Kalanidhi.

However, when he turned it down citing his business commitments, the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Dayanidhi to step into his father's shoes.

All of a sudden, the young Maran was in the limelight when he was fielded as DMK candidate for the Central Chennai constituency, represented by his late father, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

With his sophisticate looks and designer clothes, he stood apart from the rest of dhoti-clad politicians and presented a new image to the public.

Being convent-educated, he initially found it difficult to address voters in Tamil and it was his uncle and Karunanidhi's heir apparent M K Stalin who spearheaded his election campaign.

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