VZCZCXRO4147
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #0340/01 1341041
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141041Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0915
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2509
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0773
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5042
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1329

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000340 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV IN
SUBJECT: TELECOM MINISTER DAYANIDHI MARAN RESIGNS; NO IMMEDIATE 
IMPACT ON THE DMK PARTY OR UPA ALLIANCE 
 
REF: Chennai 337 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Union Communication and Information Technology 
Minister, the high-profile Dayanidhi Maran sent his resignation to 
Prime Minister Singh after losing the support of his own DMK party. 
Maran's fall from the favor of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK 
party leader Karunanidhi (who also is Maran's grand-uncle) came 
after a newspaper owned by Maran's family published a controversial 
survey on DMK succession (reftel).  In New Delhi, Maran's demise is 
expected to boost Union Highways Minister T.R. Balu and Union 
Environment Minister A. Raja as the DMK's top leaders at the center, 
at least over the short term.  It will not alter DMK support for the 
UPA coalition.  Maran's lack of popular base in Tamil Nadu rules out 
any major split in the DMK, but it remains to be seen how the large 
media empire the Maran family controls, hitherto a pillar of support 
to the DMK, will impact the party fortunes in the coming years. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
MARAN FALLS FROM THE PATRIARCH'S GRACE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 13, Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran 
resigned from the Union Cabinet after an emergency meeting of DMK 
Administrative Committee formally decided to remove him from the 
post.  The decision was the immediate fallout of a controversial 
public opinion poll on the touchy subject of DMK succession that 
Maran's family-owned newspaper published in defiance of DMK supreme 
leader and Maran's grand-uncle, Chief Minister Karunanidhi (reftel). 
Not satisfied with stripping Maran of his cabinet post, the DMK 
meeting also decided to ask him to show cause as to why he should 
not be removed from primary membership in the party.  Maran was not 
present at the meeting; he had retreated to a hill-station after he 
sensed the anger of Karunanidhi and his immediate family.  Maran 
also was noticeably absent from the grand public meeting on May 11 
at which Prime Minister Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi 
honored Karunanidhi on the 50th anniversary of his assembly 
membership.  In contrast, Azhagiri, the Karunanidhi son whose 
supporters attacked the newspaper and caused three deaths, was seen 
prominently seated in the DMK meeting along with senior DMK 
ministers. 
 
¶3. (SBU) It is not clear to what extent Dayanidhi Maran was involved 
in the publication of the survey since the newspaper "Dinakaran" and 
the Sun TV network are in fact owned by his older brother Kalanidhi 
Maran.  Media sources believe that the Maran brothers' objective 
behind the publication of the survey was to drive a wedge between 
the two sons of Karunanidhi, M.K. Stalin and M.K. Azhagiri so that 
Dayanidhi Maran could retain effective control of DMK decision 
making.  Azhagiri's supporters, however, directed their anger at the 
Marans' media empire, while Stalin and Karunanidhi also blamed the 
Marans for having instigated the sequence of events.  Newspaper 
reports indicate that the Sun TV, which currently works from the DMK 
party headquarters building, will soon shift to another location. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
THE MARANS' GROWING CLOUT THREATENED KARUNANIDHI'S SONS 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) A DMK insider who works closely with Karunanidhi-Maran 
families told Post that distrust between Karunanidhi's sons and the 
Maran brothers had been growing.  According to the insider, Stalin 
and Azhagiri felt threatened by the growing money and media power of 
the Marans, and they were waiting for an opportunity to cut the 
Marans down to size.  With a $2.6 billion net worth, older brother 
Kalanidhi Maran is one of the richest Indians and ranked 349th in 
the Forbes list of world billionaires.  The Sun Network has 22 
channels in four south Indian languages broadcasting news, serials, 
and popular entertainment to tens of millions of viewers.  The media 
empire also has seven FM Radio stations, two daily newspapers and 
four magazines. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
UNION MINISTERS RAJA AND BALU MAY FILL THE VOID 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to DMK sources, two Union Ministers of the DMK -- 
A Raja and T.R. Balu -- are likely to get a boost in the wake of the 
fall of Maran.  A DMK source said the party is likely to request the 
Center to temporarily hand over the IT and Communications portfolios 
to Union Environment Minister A. Raja "who is in the good books of 
Karunanidhi."  T.R. Balu, Minister of Highways, is likely to become 
the DMK's point person in New Delhi and its key agent for relations 
with the UPA.  Rumors are rife that the DMK will soon elect 
Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi as a Member of the Rajya Sabha, but 
our DMK sources believe it will take some time for Kanimozhi to be 
ready for a senior ministership in New Delhi.  (Kanimozhi is the 
 
CHENNAI 00000340  002 OF 002 
 
 
daughter of Karunanidhi's "unofficial wife" and a half-sister of 
Stalin and Azhagiri.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
NO CADRE SUPPORT FOR DAYANIDHI, SO NO PARTY SPLIT 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Unlike Karunanidhi's sons Stalin and, to a lesser 
extent Azhagiri, Dayanidhi Maran has little support among the DMK 
cadre who see him as too elitist and out of sync with grass-root 
politics.  For that reason, his removal from the cabinet post or 
even from the party is unlikely to result in any serious split in 
the DMK.  That said, it remains to be seen what impact the Sun media 
empire's estrangement will have on the fortunes of the DMK party. 
Hitherto, Sun TV (sharing the electoral symbol of the DMK party as 
its emblem) has been a pillar of support to the DMK at crucial times 
such as elections and Karunanidhi's midnight arrest by the police 
when AIADMK rival Jayalalithaa was in power. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Technology savvy Dayanidhi Maran had 
been very effective in attracting investments to Tamil Nadu ever 
since he became Union Minister in 2004.  The DMK has no good 
replacements for him to carry out that role and will have to go back 
to its dependency on bureaucrats to accomplish the task.  END 
COMMENT 
 
HOPPER