Kanimozhi Karunanidhi stated that late chief minister M Karunanidhi could have maintained power during the Emergency by making certain compromises. She highlighted his lifelong adherence to his ideologies. This comment was made during the closing ceremony of Karunanidhi’s birth centenary celebration at the Vellore Institute of Technology. Poet Vairamuthu also praised Karunanidhi’s decision to memorialize C N Annadurai.