Murasoli Maran

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**Murasoli Maran**

Born	August 17, 1934 Thirukkuvalai , Tamil Nadu
Residence	Chennai
Died	November 23, 2003 Chennai
Political party	DMK
Spouse	Mallika Maran
Children	2 sons and a daughter
As of November 23, 2003 Source: [1]

Murasoli Maran (August 17, 1934- November 23,2003) was a prominent Tamil politician, and an important leader of the DMK party which is headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 36 years, he was made a Union Minister in three separate central governments, in charge of Urban Development in the V.P. Singh government, Industry in the Gowda and Gujral governments, and finally Commerce and Industry under Vajpayee.^[1] Apart from being a politician, Maran was a journalist and scriptwriter for films.^[2]

1 Early Life
2 Career as Journalist
3 Films
4 Positions Held
5 Death
6 References

[edit] Early Life

Murasoli Maran born on August 17, 1934 was son of Shanmuga Sundaram. He was born at Thirukkuvalai Village Thiruvarur-At Panneerselvam in Tamil Nadu. After completing his basic eduation in his hometown he headed to Madras to get a Master's degree in Arts (M.A) from Pachaiyappa's College and Law College, Madras. Before joining politics Mr. Maran worked as a Journalist and later served as a social worker. Since his student life at Madras he was closely associated with the DMK.On 15 September 1963 he married Mallika and has two sons and a daughter. His elder son Dayanidhi Maran is the Union Minister of IT and Telecommunications and his younger son Kalanithi Maran heads and owns the popular TV Network Sun TV.

He was very vocal against Hindi being introduced in Tamil Nadu and for this he was arrested in 1965 during anti-Hindi agitations for his articles.He was detained for a year under MISA during emergency .^[3]

[edit] Career as Journalist

Murasoli maran edited a daily newspaper in Tamil "Murasoli" published from Chennai. He was also an editor to The Rising Sun a weekly in English As a publisher he published 'Kunguman', 'Muththaram', 'Vannathirai' and 'Sumangali' in Tamil language.

[edit] Films

Murasoli Maran provided screen play and dialogues for more than twenty films in Tamil. He has produced five and directed two films in Tamil

The Sangeet Natak Academy conferred the title "Kalai-Mamani" in 1975. He was Awarded President's Certificate of Merit and Tamil Nadu Government Award for three best feature films.

[edit] Positions Held

1967:Elected to Lok Sabha
1971:Re-elected to Lok Sabha
1977-1995 :Member, Rajya Sabha
1977-1995 :As a Member of Rajya Sabha he was on The Committee on Public Undertakings for three terms as a Member
1980-1982:Member, General Purposes Committee
1980-1982 and 1991-1995:Member, Public Accounts Committee
1982-1983 and 1987-1988: Member, Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
1988-1989:Member, Committee on Subordinate Legislation
1989-1990:Union Cabinet Minister, Urban Development
1992-1993: Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee to enquire into irregularities in the securities and banking transactions
1996:Elected to Lok Sabha (Eleventh) for the third time
1996-1998: Union Cabinet Minister, Industry
1998:Elected to Lok Sabha (Twelfth) for the fourth time
1999:Elected to Lok Sabha (Thirteenth) for the fifth time
1999-2002: Union Cabinet Minister, Industry

[edit] Death

During the Karunanidhi midnight arrest on June 30 2001. Murasoli Maran who went to rescue him was also attacked and arrested .Maran who is a heart patient with a pacemaker had to be admitted to Apollo Hospital after arrest.^[4]^[5]His Pacemaker moved during the arrest.

Murasoli Maran died on November 23, 2003 at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai. He was in coma for many weeks. Before the treatment at Apollo Hospital, on November 14, 2002, he was admitted to the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas for ailments related to heart and kidney. At the time of his death he was a Cabinet Minister, Government of India without any portfolio. ^[6] Prime Minister Vajpayee, and array of leaders attended his funeral in Chennai. Jayalalitha asked her Cabinet Ministers not to attend.State Public Secretary T Pitchandi was the only representative from the TN Government to the funeral.^[7]

^[8] ^[9] ^[10]