Turning 85 next month, DMK patriarch and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Tuesday moved his ministers and party MLAs to tears in the state assembly as he made an emotional appeal for unity among all leaders, saying his “great wish before death” was to see friendly ties with all parties, including arch-rival AIADMK.Karunanidhi’s reference to death while appealing for unity among leaders of all parties in the state with a pointed reference to AIADMK headed by Jayalalithaa made some ministers and DMK legislators to break down while AIADMK members heard his speech in complete silence.His appeal is seen as an apparent attempt on his part to put behind over four-decade old bitter rivalry between the two Dravidian parties and his own love-hate relationship with AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran followed by bitter rivalry, bordering on hatred, with Jayalalithaa.Such was the bitter relationship between the two that Jayalalithaa avoids attending the assembly despite being its member. Karunanidhi too had abstained from attending the House when Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister. Also, there is no social contact between the two leaders and their associates.Karunanidhi, whose government completed two years in office today, turned emotional while thanking his allies for felicitating his government.“These days, I have the great wish to die with the satisfaction of having worked with all parties in a friedly way. I want to die with a sense of comradeship. This is my latest ambition,” he said.Earlier, Karunanidhi in a statement also appealed to the partymen not to celebrate his birthday on June 3 and refrain from calling on him considering mental and physical strain in receiving visitors and accepting greeting.
