Two leaders, two different parties, and two very colourful political careers. While VS Achuthanandan is a leader whose party tried hard to shunt him out, M Karunanidhi is young at heart and hopes to be chief minister of Tamil Nadu yet again for a sixth time.

VS Achuthanandan

VS was born on Oct 20, 1923 in Alappuzha district, Kerala. He married K Vasumathy in July 1967 and has two children.

After joining the State Congress in 1938, he became a member of the Communist Party in 1940. He was among the 32 comrades who left the CPI National Council in 1964 to form the CPI(M). VS became a member of the Polit Bureau in 1985 but was sacked in July 2009 following differences with party members.

He is the current Leader of the Opposition in Kerala since 2011. He served as the CM of Kerala from 2006 to 2011.

Karunanidhi

Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924 at Thirukkuvalai, near Thiruvaarur in Thanjavur district, TN. He married three times with Padmavathy Ammayyar being his first wife, Dayaluammal second and Rajathiammal third. He has four sons and two daughters.

Popularly known as Kalaignar, at the age of 20, he turned to scriptwriting with his first film ‘Rajakumari’ garnering critical acclaim. He went on to work in more than 70 films.

On Oct 13, 1957, he led the DMK in observing an anti-Hindi day to protest against the then Central Govt’s decision to impose Hindi in TN. He has been CM of Tamil Nadu on 5 occasions — 1969-71, 1971-76, 1989-91, 1996-2001 and 2006-2011.