Murasoli Maran (17 August 1934 – 23 November 2003) was an Indian politician and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party which was 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 too.[2]

Murasoli Maran
Minister for Commerce and Industry
In office
13 October 1999 – 9 November 2002
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byRamakrishna Hegde
Succeeded byArun Shourie
Minister for Industry
In office
1 June 1996 – 19 March 1998
Prime MinisterH. D. Dewe Gowda
I. K. Gujral
Preceded bySuresh Prabhu
Succeeded bySikander Bakht
Minister for Urban Development
In office
2 December 1989 – 10 November 1990
Prime MinisterV. P. Singh
Preceded byMohsina Kidwai
Succeeded byDaulat Ram Saran
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
15 May 1996 – 23 November 2003
Preceded byEra Anbarasu
Succeeded byDayanidhi Maran
ConstituencyChennai Central
In office
4 March 1967 – 23 March 1977
Preceded byC. N. Annadurai
Succeeded byR Venkatraman
ConstituencyChennai South
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
25 July 1977 – 25 July 1995
Chairman of the House
ConstituencyTamil Nadu
Personal details
Born
Murasoli Maran

(1934-08-17)17 August 1934
Thirukuvalai, Madras Presidency, British India
(present-day Tamil Nadu, India)
Died23 November 2003(2003-11-23) (aged 69)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Political partyDravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Spouse
Mallika Maran
(m. 1963)
ChildrenKalanidhi Maran (b.1964)
Dayanidhi Maran (b.1966)
Anbukarasi (b.1968)
ParentShanmugasundari
RelativesKarunanidhi family
Alma materPachaiyappa's College, Madras Law College

Early life

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Murasoli Maran was born on 17 August 1934 to Shanmugasundari, the elder sister of M. Karunanidhi, in Thirukkuvalai Village Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. After completing his basic education 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, Maran worked as a Journalist and later served as a social worker. Since his student life in Madras, he was closely associated with the DMK. On 15 September 1963 he married Mallika and they had two sons and a daughter. His younger son Dayanidhi Maran was an MP (Ex-Union Minister) and his elder son Kalanithi Maran heads and owns the popular TV Network Sun TV. His daughter Anbukarasi Maran is a cardiologist.

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 Maintenance of Internal Security Act during the emergency.[3]

Career as journalist

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Maran edited a daily newspaper in Tamil Murasoli published from Chennai. He was also an editor of The Rising Sun, a weekly in English. He published Kungumam, Muththaram, Vannathirai and Sumangali in Tamil language.

Films

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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 the President's Certificate of Merit and Tamil Nadu Government Award for three best feature films.

Writer
Producer
Director

Positions held

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  • 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

As a Member of Parliament his qualification would read as M.A., M.P. The MA was his Arts degree at the Pachayappas College. The MP signified his being the Member of Parliament.

Death

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Murasoli Maran died aged 69 on 23 November 2003 at Apollo Hospital in Chennai. He was in coma for many weeks. Before treatment at Apollo Hospital, on 14 November 2002, he was admitted to the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, for ailments related to heart (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) and kidney. At the time of his death he was a Cabinet Minister, Government of India, without any portfolio.[4] Then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and an array of leaders, attended his funeral in Chennai.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ T. S. Subramanian (December 2003). "A man of many parts". Frontline Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "MURASOLI MARAN, 1934–2003". The Hindu tamil. 25 November 2003. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ MR. MURASOLI MARAN. UNION MINISTER FOR COMMERCE & INDUSTRY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA NEW DELHI. nic.in
  4. ^ Murasoli Maran dies after prolonged illness. Rediff.com (23 November 2003). Retrieved on 14 November 2018.
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