Chennai, Nov 23: Ailing Union Minister Murasoli Maran, died here this evening, his family sources said.
Maran, 69, is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter.
He is the nephew of DMK chief and former chief minister M Karunanidhi and was a Minister without portfolio in the Central cabinet.
His end came at the corporate Apollo Hospital, where he had been admitted for his treatment after he was brought from the US a couple of months back.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has condoled the death of Union Minister Murasoli Maran describing it as a personal loss to him.
The Prime Minister called up Dayanidhi Maran, son of Murasoli Maran, in Chennai and conveyed his condolence.
Maran, an MP from 1967, was a Minister in the V P Singh government from 1989 to 1991, in H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral cabinets from 1996 to 1998 and a Minister in Vajpayee cabinet from 1999 onwards.
Considered to be the think tank of the DMK and conscious keeper of his uncle and DMK president M Karunanidhi, Maran was instrumental in forging the electoral alliances for the party.
An ideologue of the Dravidian movement, Maran convinced the DMK to be a part of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre in 1999.
It was a very assiduous task for him to convince the party cadres, which considered the BJP as an "octopus" and preaching "communal politics".
Bureau Report