R. Nallakannu (born 26 December 1924) is an Indian politician. He is a senior leader of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

(CPI). He was the former State Secretary of the

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Early life

R.Nallakannu was born in the temple town of Tiruvaikuntam,

Thoothukudi district The Thoothukkudi District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. On 20 October 1986, an M. G. Ramachandran-led government bifurcated the Tirunelveli district to form the district. It is shared by its boundaries w ...

. Born in an affluent family, he was patriotic from a young age and participated in the Indian freedom struggle.

Career

At age 15, Nallakannu joined the communist movement. He belonged to the action force and was sentenced to over 14 years in jail. He was released after 7 years, as a pact was signed by the communist leaders and the chief minister of

. Highly respected even by opposition parties, he uses restraint when he voices concerns about issues and events. Nallakannu is respected as one of the last surviving leaders who founded the Communist movement in India. He is also valued as a learned speaker and a great social reformer, and all his life he fought for equal opportunities for the most socially suffered communities. He stayed with them, had food with them and taught them how to fight for their own rights from the upper classes. He also made considerable progress in lifting the living conditions of poor people in Nanguneri Taluk and neighboring villages, mostly during the period when he was spending his time underground. He is known as an individual ready to make any sacrifice to uphold the principles of a casteless society. In 2018 he individually fought a court case in Madurai, and won at the High court which ordered a ban on digging sands from the

Thamirabarani River The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats, above Papanasam in the Ambasamudram taluk. It flows through Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi di ...

of his native place. On 2 December 2010, the court banned the taking of sand from this river for 5 years. He undertook many hunger strikes, some lasting more than 20 days. Once, the government built a dam because of his hunger strike. He was honored by the Vice President of the People's Republic of China during his visit to Beijing. In 1999, Nallakannu stood for

coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

constituency on parliamentary election. Even though he secured 43.21 percent of total votes, he was defeated by CP Radhakrishnan.

Electoral performance

Lok Sabha elections contested

Writer

As a writer, Nallakannu wrote many books based on social problems, river interaction possibilities in India, agricultural reforms and about communist-based articles..

Recognition

* Sahayogi Puraskar award from Governor

Surjit Singh Barnala Surjit Singh Barnala (21 October 1925 – 14 January 2017) was an Indian politician who served as the 11th chief minister of Punjab state from 1985 to 1987. Following that he served as the governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Prades ...

(14 August 2007). * Ambedkar Award for his contribution to public life (2007)

* Gandhian award for social service from All India Mahatma Gandhi Social Welfare Forum (3 October 2008) * " Thagaisal Tamizhar" award 2022 * Jeeva Award from District Writers Association (21 January 2009)

Personal life

Nallakannu married Ranjitham Ammal, a retired school headmistress from

Srivaikuntam Srivaikuntam, also referred to as Thiruvaikuntam, is a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the river Thamirabarani. Thiruvaikuntam has a temple dedicated to Vishnu, known as S ...

Tuticorin district The Thoothukkudi District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. On 20 October 1986, an M. G. Ramachandran-led government bifurcated the Tirunelveli district to form the district. It is shared by its boundaries wi ...

, with whom he had two daughters. Ranjitham died in Chennai in 2016 at age 82. In 2019, Nallakannu and his family were asked to vacate the house they were living in, which was allotted to them as a tribute to his contributions in the political field. Multiple political leaders expressed their indignation with this decision. DMK President MK Stalin stated that, as a political leader who has been held in high regard, Nallakannu should be allotted another house.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nallakannu 1924 births Living people Communist Party of India politicians from Tamil Nadu People from Thoothukudi district