Raj TV is all set to strengthen it position with its managing director M Raajhendran deciding to join the DMK as a primary member on June 1. His brothers Rajaratnam, Ravindran and Raghunathan will also join the party in the presence of DMK President and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at Anna Arivalayam.

Confirming this to The Indian Express, Raajhendran denied this was an opportunistic move. “I was born a DMK man and will die a DMK man,” he said. According to 57-year old Raajhendran, he hails from true-blue DMK stock since his father Manickam Pillai, a DMK sympathiser and partyman from 1962, had canvassed votes for the party in bare feet in the hot sands of Sivaganga district. “Both my father and father-in-law have been staunch DMK men, while former DMK Law Minister Madhavan is my first cousin,” he added. By deciding to join the DMK, his Raj TV, which overnight became the favoured channel of the Government, has come full circle.

With this move, Sun TV has been checkmated, and even if there is a patch up, it is unlikely to enjoy favoured status.