Chennai, Oct 10 (IANS): Selvam, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's brother-in-law and former editor of 'Murasoli' -- the DMK mouthpiece, passed away on Thursday at his residence in Bengaluru.

He was 84 and was married to Stalin's sister, Selvi.

'Murasoli' Selvam was the nephew of the DMK patriarch and late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the younger brother of the former Union Minister, the late Murasoli Maran.

According to DMK leaders, Selvam breathed his last after writing an article for the DMK mouthpiece Murasoli.

Chief Minister Stalin expressed shock at his brother-in-law's demise, posting on the social media platform X: "I lost the ideological pillar and the last shoulder I could lean on after the demise of Kalaignar."

It was Murasoli Selvam who, through his articles in the party mouthpiece Murasoli under the pseudonym Silandhi, cleared several vexed ideological issues of the DMK during the late Karunanidhi and now during Stalin's tenure as Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister.

When the DMK had earlier entered into a political alliance with the BJP at the Centre and shared power in the Union government, it was Murasoli Selvam, through his sharp writings, who gave the party much-needed ideological backing.

He also produced several Tamil films.

Of late, he had been living in Bengaluru, where he breathed his last.

Chennai Central MP and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran also expressed shock at Selvam's demise.

Incidentally, Selvam was the younger brother of Dayanidhi Maran's father, the late Murasoli Maran.