There was much speculation that the valakaapu (bangle ceremony) of Anbukkarasi, Dayanidhi Maran’s sister who is pregnant, would provide the platform for a last-ditch effort to patch-up with granduncle Karunanidhi. But, while invitations were dispatched to every family member of Karunanidhi, including M K Azhagiri, M K Stalin and Kanimozhi, none attended the function. Karunanidhi will be back in Chennai tomorrow.

In the run up to the function, Karunanidhi’s daughter Selvi, who is married to his nephew Selvam, is said to have tried to heal the rift, appealing to her father to attend the function.

But the DMK patriarch remained firm about not forgiving his grandnephews for “triggering” the Madurai violence with their poll survey in Dinakaran on who would inherit the mantle after him, that too on the eve of the gala celebrations to mark his 50th year as legislator. The survey, published on May 9, sparked off violence which left three employees of the newspaper dead.

Subsequent attempts by the Marans to heal wounds have failed. The latest effort to organise a function for a patch-up, for which Kalanidhi Maran, Dayanidhi’s elder brother, flew to America to bring back Anbukarasi and his mother Mallika, also did not bear fruit.

Meanwhile, the DMK leadership is preparing the blue-print to launch the new Kalaignar TV, which the party hopes will prove an effective rival to Sun TV. Work is already on to house a core team of the channel at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, which is where incidentally Sun TV too has its offices. Now out of favour, Sun TV will have to find a new place to house its production facilities.

Meanwhile, on May 24, chief programme officer of Sun TV Hansraj Saxena, said to be a confidant of Kalanidhi, lodged a complaint with the City Police Commissioner that he was receiving death threats on his mobile phone.

There have been reports of the state Government targeting Maran appointees in the state administration, including IPS officers. According to the DMK grapevine, warning signals have also been sent out to Maran loyalists in the Cabinet.