PTI

Chennai, Jul 27: Considered as his literary heir, Kanimozhi, who became a Rajya Sabha member on Thursday, is now stepping in as a political heir of DMK patriarch and grand old man of Tamil Nadu politics M Karunanidhi.

The 39-year-old poet Kanimozhi is the second person from Karunanidhi's family to enter Rajya Sabha, the first being the late Murasoli Maran.

Known for her strong views on the empowerment of women and a strong votary of 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, Kanimozhi had said her priority would be to highlight the problems of women and the poor in the Upper House.

As a lover of fine arts, she recently organised Chennai Sangamam - a festival of arts in Chennai, in which all the traditional arts of Tamil Nadu like 'Silampattam', 'Mayilattam' were performed.

Born in 1968, when the world tamil conference was held in Chennai, her parents, Karunanidhi and Rajathi Ammal, decided to name her as Kanimozhi, meaning sweet language.

She had her school education in the famous Presentation Convent and Church Park convent, where AIADMK supreme J Jayalalithaa also had her education.

She did her post graduation in Economics at the Ethiraj College here.

She worked as a sub-editor in The Hindu for a short stint. Penning poems is her favourite past time.

Married to G Aravindan, she has a son named Adithiyan.