The red and yellow letters boldly proclaiming Sun TV on the premises of DMK headquarters at Anna Arivalayam are missing. The posters of Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi’s 50 years in Tamil politics obliterated them. So what brought about this denouement? Apparently, this was because of the threats issued by Kalanidhi Maran and Dayanidhi Maran, who own the Sun TV Group, to their granduncle M Karunanidhi, the DMK boss and CM of Tamil Nadu.
On May 9, when violence broke out inside the Maran-owned Tamil daily Dinakaran’s Madurai office, claiming the lives of three of its employees, the elder Maran vowed to fight for justice. The younger Maran joined his brother, and the two threatened to have the state government dismissed.
Was the threat issued by brothers Maran a grave misjudgment of their powers? Did the two actually think that their proximity to the Centre could help them damage the very person, granduncle M Karunanidhi, who put them there? Incidentally, the wrath of the octogenarian chief minister has been more severe on the younger brother than on the elder one.
In its 14 years, the Sun TV group had built up a formidable business reputation: it had assumed predominance in the south. The group has 14 regional channels, two FM radio stations, four magazines and two newspapers.
The rise has been particularly meteoric in the past three years, with Dayanidhi as the Union telecommunications and IT minister. The group was planning to launch its English tabloid through a tie-up with The Sun. The trouble began with Kalanidhi expressing reluctance to carry biased reportage on DMK issues. Source: IndiaTimes
