Equal share for 2 wives in Karunanidhi's Rs 41 crore assets

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi disclosed assets worth Rs 41 crore, collectively between him and his two wives, while filing his nomination papers for the Tiruvarur assembly constituency on Thursday.

His wives, Dayalu and Rajathi, are worth about Rs 36 crore, while Karunanidhi holds Rs 4.92 crore, primarily in bank deposits. The DMK patriarch has more or less maintained parity in the distribution of assets between his wives. While Dayalu has assets worth Rs 17.34 crore, Rajathi's assets add up to Rs 18.68 crore.

Dayalu is the mother of four, including Union chemicals and fertilizers minister M K Alagiri and Tamil Nadu deputy CM M K Stalin. Rajathi is the mother of Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi. Karunanidhi's first wife was Padmavathi, and he has a son, M K Muthu, from her.

After Padmavathi's death, he married Dayalu in 1948. During a debate in the assembly, when a member asked him about Rajathi, Karunanidhi referred to her as his daughter Kanimozhi's mother. Kanimozhi is 42 years old now.

In his 2009-10 income tax returns, Karunanidhi had showed an income of Rs 37.3 lakh, Dayalu Rs 64.37 lakh and Rajathi 1.67 crore.

None of the three owns any agricultural land. Karunanidhi has no jewellery, car or house in his name.

Dayalu's 60% stake in Kalaignar TV is valued at Rs 6 crore. She has jewellery worth Rs 13 lakh, bank deposits worth Rs 6.6 crore and a house in Tiruvarur worth Rs 5.51 lakh. She owns a 2005 model Honda Accord car.

Rajathi owns a bungalow, constructed on roughly four grounds (one ground is 2,400 sq ft) in CIT Colony in south Chennai. Hardly any appreciation has been shown for this house, which is valued at Rs 3.14 crore in the affidavit. It was valued at Rs 3.02 crore in the 2006 affidavit. She also owns a company, Westgate Logistics, in which she has invested Rs 2.5 crore. Rajathi has other financial investments worth Rs 2.57 crore. Her jewellery is worth Rs 9.85 lakh.

Karunanidhi is not the only politician to declare the assets of more than one wife. His cabinet colleague and Salem strongman Veerapandi S Arumugam, who filed his nomination on Tuesday, has also declared the assets of his two wives. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, former Union minister T R Baalu, who contested from Sriperumbudur constituency, had declared the assets of his two wives.