MK Stalin steps in to mend Maran brothers’ rift, family truce on the cards

A long-running and bitter feud between Sun TV Network chairman Kalanithi Maran and his younger brother, DMK MP and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran, appears to be on the brink of resolution — thanks to the quiet but firm intervention of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.

According to Moneycontrol, people familiar with the matter, Stalin, a cousin to the warring Maran brothers, played a key role in brokering peace between the two factions of one of Tamil Nadu’s most influential families. The mediation meeting, held in the presence of Stalin and his son, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, also included the Maran siblings and their sister Anbukarasi, who is said to have earlier received a ₹500 crore settlement from Kalanithi.

The rapprochement, still unfolding, marks a significant political and familial moment in Tamil Nadu’s power corridors. While details of the settlement remain under wraps — including whether it involves monetary compensation or a restructuring of business holdings — the development is being seen as a deft move by Stalin to prevent further embarrassment to the ruling DMK, of which Dayanidhi remains a prominent face.

This reconciliation effort comes just weeks after Moneycontrol exclusively reported the explosive intra-family dispute on June 19, 2025. Dayanidhi had accused his billionaire brother of cheating, money laundering, and misappropriation of company shares in a strongly worded legal notice dated June 10. The notice threatened legal action unless Kalanithi restored Sun TV’s shareholding structure to its 2003 state, citing alleged fraudulent share allotments, undervaluation of assets, and misrepresentation in IPO documents.

The allegations detailed a sprawling web of financial grievances, including accusations that Kalanithi Maran allotted 12 lakh equity shares to himself at a face value of ₹10 per share — when they were allegedly worth over ₹3,000 each — without proper consultation or documentation. The notice also pointed to dividends worth nearly ₹6,400 crore accrued by Kalanithi and his wife Kaveri Maran over the past two years alone.

The rift threatened to shake not only the corporate foundations of the Sun TV empire, but also the extended Karunanidhi political legacy. The Maran brothers are the sons of late Union Minister Murasoli Maran, a nephew of former CM and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. The legal complaint invoked the legacy of Karunanidhi's wife, MK Dayalu, who once held a stake in Sun TV.

The settlement efforts also resurface longstanding grievances within the Karunanidhi-Maran clan. In a previous dispute, MK Dayalu had allegedly been short-changed when her Sun TV stake was bought out for ₹100 crore despite the company's higher valuation at IPO.

While Sun TV shares faced brief pressure after the June revelations, the company dismissed the matter as a private family dispute with no material impact on operations.

Political analysts suggest that Stalin’s role in navigating this reconciliation demonstrates not just familial stewardship, but political calculus. With the DMK leadership keen to preserve unity and avoid public spats that could tarnish the party's image ahead of future elections, Stalin's intervention signals a return to quiet consensus-building, typical of the late Karunanidhi era.