Karunanidhi snubs Dayanidhi Maran

Efforts by the Maran brothers to patch up with their grand uncle and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi appeared to have failed on Tuesday as they went to greet him on his 85th birthday but had to leave without a meeting.

Karunanidhi's son M K Azhagiri said Kalanidhi Maran and Dayanidhi Maran "came to meet my father at my sister Kanimozhi's house and greet him on his birthday but my father refused to meet them. After waiting for more than half an hour, they left".

Earlier reports had suggested that the Maran brothers met their grand uncle.

Dayanidhi, a former union minister, and his brother Kalanidhi, who have been in political wilderness for almost a year, refused to respond to questions from the media.

Dayanidhi was forced to quit as Union minister in May last year after his family-owned newspaper published a survey saying Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin is likely to succeed as political heir to the DMK patriarch.

The newspaper survey had claimed that majority of the respondents had said Stalin would succeed his father and had shown his elder son Azhagiri, party's strong man in the southern districts, in poor light.

Dayanidhi was removed as Union minister and a showcause notice served to him.

Kalanidhi had met M K Stalin, the younger son of Karunanidhi and a state minister, on his birthday, giving rise to speculation that the two families might come together again.