Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Friday said the root cause of the violent attack on Dinakaran office in Madurai, where three persons were killed, was a survey done by the paper which showed his Madurai-based eldest son M K Azhagiri in poor light in comparison to younger son M K Stalin as his political heir.
Sharing members’ grief over loss of lives, Mr Karunanidhi told the State Assembly that the survey claimed that only two per cent of the respondents supported Mr Azhagiri while 70 per cent were for Mr Stalin.
In this connection, he recalled  an earlier survey by the same paper which claimed that his grand-nephew  Dayanidhi Maran was the best performing Union Minister from the State, followed by Mr P Chidambaram, Mr T R Baalu and Mr R Anbumani (son of PMK founder S Ramadoss).
In an indirect attack on Mr Dayanidhi Maran, whose elder brother Kalanidhi Maran runs both Sun TV and Dinakaran, he said Mr Chidambaram was acknowledged as a financial wizard while Dr Anbumani had won praise from the prime minister himself for his performance as Health Minister.
When the survey was done, he took exception to it on the ground that it needlessly ruffled the feathers of allies.

Unheeded advice
When he came to know about the latest survey about his political successor, he spoke to the Dinakaran and Sun TV management  to stop it, but his advice was not heeded. He said the latest survey also claimed that his daughter and poetess Kanimozhi enjoyed only two per cent support like Mr Azhagiri.
Pointing out that Kanimozhi had publicly stated that she had no intention of entering politics, he asked where was the need to drag her name into the survey. “The irony is Mr Azhagiri also has said he is not interested in any party post.”
He also asked how Mr Maran, who topped the list as the best performing Central Minister from Tamil Nadu, could muster only 20 per cent support when it came to the question of deciding who should succeed him in the party.
Acknowledging that Mr Azhagiri had his own set of folloers, Mr Karunanidhi  said groupism was endemic in all parties and the DMK was no exception.
About the burning of the copies of Dinakaran by supporters of Mr Azhagiri, Mr Karunanidhi pointed out that the PMK men also did the same in several towns when an earlier survey showed Dr Anbumani in poor light.
During the debate, the Congress, the PMK and communist members called for a ban on such surveys.