(Flanked by local administration minister M K Stalin (left) and state electricity minister Arcot N Veerasamy (... Read More

Karunanidhi, who was affectionately called 'Kalaignar' by his supporters, left an impregnable impression on the political map of the southern Indian state. Here is a look at his political journey-

June 3, 1924 | Born as Dakshinamurthy into a rural household in Thirukkuvalai in Nagapattinam district

1938 | Joins Justice Party, later Dravida Kazhagam, takes part in anti-Hindi agitations

1942 | Circulates 8-page handwritten newspaper, Manavar Nesan, which later becomes Murasoli, the official DMK newspaper; later founds Tamil Nadu Tamil Manavar Mandram, student organisation that grew into DMK student wing

1944 | Joins Jupiter Pictures as screenwriter

1947 | Release of first film he scripted, Rajakumari

1949 | Joins Annadurai, who breaks away from Dravidar Kazhagam to form DMK

1952 | Hit film Parasakthi releases; scripted by Karunanidhi , it is first film to propagate ideas of Dravidian movement

1953 | Makes headlines by leading Kallakudi demonstration against renaming of the town as Dalmiapuram, after a cement mogul; lies on railway tracks to make his point; jailed for three months

1957 | Elected for first time to TN assembly from Kulithalai; has not lost an election since

1961| Becomes DMK treasurer

1962 | Becomes deputy leader of opposition in assembly

1967 | Becomes public works minister in the cabinet of C N Annadurai after DMK comes to power for first time

1969 | Becomes chief minister for the first time after Annadurai’s death

1972 | After falling out with Karunanidhi, MGR breaks away and forms AIADMK

1976 | Indira Gandhi dismisses DMK govt on charges of corruption

1977 | AIADMK comes to power, Karunanidhi sits in opposition for next 13 years

1989 | Karunanidhi and DMK return to power after MGR’s death

January 1991 | Centre dismisses DMK govt allegedly for being too close to LTTE

May 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi assassinated; AIADMK-Congress combine sweeps polls

1996 | Unseats Jayalalithaa and returns to power after Rajinikanth endorses DMK-TMC combine

2001 | Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK govt arrests him on charges of corruption with Stalin, Maran

2004 | DMK-led alliance wins 40 seats in Lok Sabha polls, gets 7 Union minister posts

2006 | Returns to power as CM for the fifth time

2009 | Undergoes spinal surgery, confined to wheelchair thereafter

2010 | Union telecom minister A Raja linked to 2G spectrum scam

2011 | Daughter Kanimozhi arrested in 2G scam case; DMK loses assembly polls

Jan 2013 | Names Stalin his heir apparent

March 2013 | Quit UPA, pulls ministers back from Centre over Eelam Tamils issue

2014 | Expels older son Alagiri from party; after a long and tiring campaign, ailing Karunanidhi loses state assembly polls but retains his seat of Tiruvarur

2016 | Admitted to hospital and released after a few days

Jan 2017 | Health remains poor; Stalin elected DMK working president

May 2017 | Marks 60 years as a legislator

Oct 2017 | Makes public appearance after a year to visit party paper Murasoli’s office for an exhibition to mark its platinum jubilee

June 2018 | Celebrates 94th birthday

