Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan (19 December 1922 – 7 March 2020) was an Indian politician. He was a long-standing leader of the

Dravidian movement Dravidian politics is the main political ideology in Tamil Nadu that seeks to safeguard the rights of the Dravidian peoples. Dravidian politics started in British India with the formation of the Justice Party on 20 November 1916 in Victoria ...

and was the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

party (DMK) for nine terms. He has held several cabinet ministerial portfolios in the

Tamil Nadu government The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

under M. Karunanidhi including Finance, Education and Health and Social Welfare. He was elected as a member of the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding office ...

on nine occasions. He was earlier elected to the

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 ...

the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

India's Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

from

Tiruchengode Tiruchengode is a special grade municipality town located in western part of southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is famous for the ancient hilltop Ardhanareeswarar Temple, dedicated to the unique combined male-female form of Lord Shiva and G ...

and was also a member of the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

. He served as the opposition leader of Tamil Nadu assembly from 2001 to 2006. He was popularly referred to as ''Perasiriyar'' (Professor) as he was a lecturer in Tamil in

Pachaiyappa's College Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In addition, it is the first sole Indian college in Madras Presidency. History Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai is the resul ...

before resigning to contest elections in 1957.

Early life

Anbazhagan was born in Kattoor near

Thiruvarur Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a municipality in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja t ...

Tanjore district Thanjavur District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur (Tanjore) . The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River and is mostly agrarian. Geography The dis ...

(now

Thiruvarur District Thiruvarur district is one of the 38 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. As of 2011, the district had a population of 1,264,277 with a sex-ratio of 1,017 females for every 1,000 males. Geography The district occupies an area of 2,161 ...

) of

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

on 19 December 1922 to M. Kalyanasundaranar and Swarnambal as Ramaiah. He changed his name to Anbazhagan and being influenced by the Pure Tamil Movement led by Tamil scholar

Maraimalai Adigal Maraimalai Adigal (15 July 1876 – 15 September 1950) was a Tamil Saivite writer, orator and father of the Tanittamil Iyakkam movement. He authored more than 100 books, including works on original poems and dramas and notable research works o ...

. In 1942, he addressed a Justice Party meeting in

as a student after being requested by

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 19093 February 1969), also known as Perarignar, was an Indian politician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He served as the fourth and last chi ...

and came into contact with M. Karunanidhi for the first time. He received his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Tamil from

Annamalai University The Annamalai University (AU) is a public state university in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The sprawling campus offers courses of higher education in arts, science, engineering, management, humanities, agriculture, and physical education. ...

and joined

as a lecturer in Tamil in 1944.

Political career

Anbazhagan resigned as a Lecturer at

to contest elections and was elected from

Egmore Egmore is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. Situated on the northern banks of the Coovum River, Egmore is an important residential area as well as a commercial and transportation hub. The Egmore Railway Station was the main terminus of the ...

to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1957. He was a member of the Madras legislative council between 1962–1967 and a close confidant of the DMK founder

. He was a member of

between 1967 and 1971. In 1971, he served as Social Welfare minister of Tamil Nadu. He had given up his M.L.A. position, representing Park Town constituency, in 1984 putting forward the

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam (, ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independence, independent sovereign state, state that many Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lan ...

issue. He was elected from Harbour constituency in 1996, 2001 and 2006. He served as the opposition leader of Tamil Nadu assembly from 2001 to 2006.

Personal life and death

Anbazhagan lived with his wife Santhakumari in Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai. In his later years, Anbazhagan was in poor health, which minimized his political activities and public appearances, with the last one being on his 97th birthday on 19 December 2019. On 24 February 2020, his health deteriorated and became "extremely critical and unstable", and he was admitted at

Apollo Hospital Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited is an Indian multinational healthcare group headquartered in Chennai. It is the largest for-profit private hospital network in India, with a network of 71 owned and managed hospitals. Along with the eponymo ...

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 ...

for treatment. He died there at 1:05

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on 7 March 2020 due to complications of

diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained hyperglycemia, high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or th ...

. The DMK declared a seven-day mourning after his death. His grandson A. Vetriazhagan is the current MLA from

Villivakkam Villivakkam is a neighbourhood of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is served by the Villivakkam railway station on the Chennai Central–Arakkonam suburban section. Villivakkam is the largest state assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu in terms of ...

constituency.

Literary works

Anbazhagan has sound knowledge of

Tamil poetry Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the T ...

. Some of his published works include: *''Urimai vaazhvu'' *''Viduthalaik kavignar'' *''Pesum kalai valarpom'' *''Thamizh kadal'' *''Alai osai'' *''Thamizhar thirumanamum inamaanamum''

Elections Contested

Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Elections Contested

Lok Sabha Elections Contested

Tamilnadu State Legislative Assembly Elections Contested

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anbazhagan, K. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians 1922 births Dravidian movement Indian atheists 2020 deaths State cabinet ministers of Tamil Nadu People from Tiruvarur district India MPs 1967–1970 Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu Annamalai University alumni Leaders of the opposition in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu MLAs 1996–2001 Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Deaths from multiple organ failure Madras MLAs 1957–1962 Tamil Nadu MLAs 1985–1989 Health ministers of Tamil Nadu