Dalit Ezhilmalai (24 June 1945 – 6 May 2020) was an Indian union minister. He was a leader of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and was Union Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare (Independent Charge) during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998–99.

Early life

He was born on 24 June 1945 in Irumbedu village in Madurantakam taluk of Chengalpattu district in

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 ...

. He served the erstwhile Post & Telegraph Department between 1963 and 1987. During this period, he was sent on deputation to the Army for five years up to 1974. As an army officer he took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He was a recipient of the K Sainik Seva Medal from the president of India for meritorious service in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. Even while in the government service, he held key positions in the National Federation of Postal Union and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Employees Association Co-ordination Committee, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, besides launching the Dalit People's Front in 1980.

Career

After the formation of the Pattali Makkal Katchi in 1989, he joined the party and became its general secretary. In the 1998

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

election, he was elected from the Chidambaram (reserved) constituency when the PMK contested the poll as part of the AIADMK-led coalition. In March 1998, he was made Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare with independent charge in the Vajpayee Cabinet. However, in August 1999, he quit the PMK as he was denied the party nomination to contest again from the constituency. Later, he joined the AIADMK and was elected as an AIADMK MP from Tiruchirappalli (Lok Sabha constituency) in the 2001 by-election.

Electoral performance

Death

He died on 6 May 2020, aged 74, in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

.Former Union Minister Dalit Ezhilmalai passes away at 74
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References

External links

Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu 1945 births 2020 deaths Pattali Makkal Katchi politicians All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Politicians from Kanchipuram district {{India-mil-bio-stub