Karunanidhi's end came at 6.10 p.m., hours after the Kauvery Hospital announced that he was "extremely critical" and "unstable".

Muthuvel Karunanidhi, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on August 7 after prolonged illness. He was 94.

The end came at 6.10 p.m., hours after the Kauvery Hospital announced that he was "extremely critical" and "unstable". Mr. Karunanidhi was under treatment at the hospital after his health suffered a setback to his health past midnight on July 28 at his Gopalapuram residence.

Before being moved to the hospital, the nonagenarian leader was suffering from fever and infection for the past few days and was treated round-the-clock by a team of doctors and nursing personnel at his house.

Mr. Karunanidhi fell ill in October 2016 due to a drug-induced allergy. The veteran leader was admitted to the hospital for “optimisation of nutrition and hydration” in the first week of December 2016 and later, for a throat and lung infection.

In pictures: M. Karunanidhi — a Titan of Tamil Nadu politics

Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924 in Thirukkuvalai as Dakshinamoorthy. He changed his name to Karunanidhi inspired by the rationalist movements that were against the use of gods' names. Photo shows Karunanidhi along with his son M.K. Stalin visiting his childhood home at Thirukkuvalai in Nagapattinam district on October 1, 2009. Karunanidhi’s political innings began in his teens when he started the Maanavar Mandram or Students’ Club, considered the first-ever student body of the Dravidan movement. Karunanidhi was the founding member of the DMK’s organ Murasoli. He edited the newspaper for over five decades. Photo shows Karunanidhi addressing an election rally at Kulithalai in 1957, the year he was first elected MLA from the Kulithalai constituency. Photo: Special Arrangement Karunanidhi rose to fame with the Dalmiapuram protest in the 1950s. The agitation was against the renaming of Kallakudi railway station to Dalmiapuram, after the Dalmia Cements set up a factory in the town, then part of the Tiruchirapalli district. File photo shows police personnel at the Kallakudi Palanganatham railway station. Photo: Special Arrangement Karunanidhi has the distinction of not losing a single Assembly election. He has won 13 times since 1957. Photo shows Karunanidhi taking oath as MLA on May 25, 2016. Tamil Nadu Governor Sardar Ujjal Singh swears in M. Karunanidhi as Chief Minister at the Raj Bhavan in Madras on February 10, 1969. He went on to become Chief Minister four more times. His government was dismissed twice — in 1976 during the Emergency, and in 1991. Karunanidhi was closely associated with Tamil theatre. His plays such as “Poompuhar” and “Manthiri Kumari” were later made into films. It was after watching “Thooku Medai”, actor-playwright M.R. Radha conferred the title “Kalaignar” on Karunanidhi. Photo shows a still from the movie “Manthiri Kumari” starring M.G. Ramachandran. Karunanidhi is known for his association with Tamil cinema. “Parasakthi” and “Manthiri Kumari” scripted by Karunanidhi gave a breakthrough to two legendary Tamil actors Sivaji Ganesan and M.G. Ramachandran (MGR). Photo shows Karunanidhi and MGR during an election campaign. “Parasakthi”, the film which changed the course of Tamil film industry, gave impetus to the rise of scriptwriter Karunanidhi and actor Sivaji Ganesan. “Parasakthi” has a cult status in Tamil cinema for shifting the focus from music to dialogues. In “Parasakthi”, Karunanidhi’s dialogues questioned social evils, caste hierarchy, and the plight of widows in the society. Karunanidhi wrote scripts for about 40 movies, the last one being “Ponnar Shankar”, a period drama, released in 2011. Photo shows Karunanidhi with the crew of “Ponnar Shankar”. Karunanidhi has published over 100 Tamil books — both prose and poetry — including his autobiography “Nenjukku Needhi”; “Tholkappiya Poonga”, an elaborate treatise on Tamil grammar; and “Kuraloviyam”, a commentary on “Thirukkural”. Photo shows former Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court P.R. Gokulakrishnan unveiling the sixth volume of Karunanidhi's memoir “Nenjuku Neethi” in Chennai on December 14, 2013. Karunanidhi's moves such as legalising self-respect marriages, non-brahmins to become priests in temples, and performing archanai in Tamil faced opposition from orthodox Hindus. Photo shows Karunandhi being presented an award for allowing all caste people to become priests in temple, at a function in Thanjavur. A self-proclaimed atheist, Karunanidhi penned dialogues for Ramanujar, a Tamil television series on the Vaishnavite saint. Photo shows Karunanidhi with his mentor, former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai. If Chief Ministers are hoisting the national flag on August 15, the credit goes to Karunanidhi. He took it up with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974 and subsequently it was decided that Governors would hoist the flag on Republic Day and Chief Ministers on Independence Day. Photo shows Karunanidhi hoisting the national flag on August 15, 2009 at Chennai’s Fort St. George. Karunanidhi was instrumental in establishing Tamil Nadu as a welfare state. During his term hand-rickshaws were abolished. Photo shows Karunanidhi presenting a cycle-rickshaw to a hand-rickshaw puller. Minister V.R. Nedunchezhian is also seen in the picture. Universal public distribution system, affordable healthcare, and free spectacles scheme were some of the landmark schemes pioneered by Karunanidhi. He was also subjected to criticism as the freebie schemes were costing the exchequer. Photo shows Karunanidhi distributing Pongal goodies to a ration card holder on January 1, 2011. Rajaji meets Tami Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi at the latter’s residence in Chennai on July 20, 1971, to plead against lifting prohibition. Prohibition was suspended on August 30 that year and sale and consumption of alcohol resumed for the first time in Tamil Nadu post-Independence. Karunanidhi's infrastructure projects such as Veeranam, the revival of Cooum, and construction of flyovers were marred in corruption allegations. The Sarkaria Commission, in its report, accused Karunanidhi of misusing the CM post. Photo shows Karunanidhi disembark from his specially-designed car on March 30, 2016. Karunanidhi was arrested in 2001 alleging irregularities in the construction of flyovers during his tenure. The midnight swoop was widely condemned across party lines and was seen as political vendetta as the probe made little headway. Photo shows Karunanidhi, sitting in protest in front of the Central Jail in Chennai on June 30, 2001, after his arrest. Karunanidhi was criticised for encouraging family rule and nepotism. While son M.K. Stalin has been Deputy Chief Minister, another son M.K. Alagiri, nephew ‘Murasoli' Maran and grand-nephew Dayanidhi Maran have been made Union Ministers. Daughter Kanimozhi is a Rajya Sabha member. Photo shows Karunanidhi celebrating his 89th birthday with his extended family. In 2009, in the run-up to the defeat of the LTTE, he was accused of not doing enough to stop the war in Sri Lanka. He went on a fast in April demanding that the military operations to wipe out the LTTE be ended, but called it off after some hours, citing an assurance by the Sri Lankan government. However, the operations continued amidst reports of more civilian casualties. Photo shows Karunanidhi during his fast on April 27, 2009. Karunanidhi was part of national coalitions that formed the government in 1989 (V.P. Singh), 1996 (Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral), 2004-2014 ( Manmohan Singh). Photo shows leaders from several political parties with Karunanidhi on May 11, 2007 during a function to celebrate his golden jubilee as a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. A staunch advocate of federalism and fiscal autonomy for States, Karunanidhi appointed the P.V. Rajamannar Commission (in early 1970s), the first such panel to go into Centre-State relations. Photo shows Karunanidhi going through “The Hindu” at his residence. Karunanidhi enjoyed high esteem among leaders across party lines in the country. Photo shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Karunanidhi at the latter’s residence on June 11, 2017. Sri Sathya Saibaba of Puttaparthi calls on Karunanidhi at the latter's residence in Chennai on January 20, 2007. Karunanidhi never shied away from embracing new technology. He had a personal Twitter handle and a Facebook page. Karunanidhi stepped out of active politics from late 2016 owing to poor health. In his last years, he was living with a tracheostomy tube and other ailments, which restricted his movement. Photo shows Karunanidhi greeting party workers on his 95th birthday outside his residence in Chennai on June 3, 2018. DMK leaders (from left) K.A. Mathiazhagan, V.R. Nedunchezhian, M. Karunanidhi, A. Govindaswamy and N.V. Natarajan look on as party founder C.N. Annadurai addresses a meeting in the earlier days of the party. Photo: Special Arrangement

He had undergone tracheostomy, a procedure to optimise breathing.

Since then he was staying away from active politics and made only a few public appearances, the last one on June 3, 2018, when he turned 94.

On July 28, the day he was moved to the hospital, he entered his 50th year as DMK president.

Mr. Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924, at Thirukuvalai, now in Nagapattinam district (then in the composite Tanjore district) and did his schooling in nearby Tiruvarur. His father Muthuvel was a nagaswaram player and his mother Anjugam, a housewife.