S. Balakrishnan, also known as So. Balakrishnan or So.Ba, was a veteran Indian politician, President of TNCC (2002–2003) and Opposition Leader of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu for 18 years. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the 11th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (1996–2001). Balakrishnan was elected to the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of the Assembl ...

as an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

(INC) candidate from Mudukulathur constituency in the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

and

1991 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1991. Africa * 1991 Algerian legislative election * 1991 Beninese parliamentary election * 1991 Beninese presidential election * 1991 Burkinabé presidential election * 1991 Cape Verdean parliamentar ...

and as a

Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) The Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (; TMC(M)) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is founded by the former Member of Parliament of the Republic of India G. K. Moopanar on 29 March 1996 as a breakaway ...

(TMC) candidate from the same constituency in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

. He was also elected from

Kadaladi Kadaladi () in Tamil Nadu is 108 km from Madurai. Kadaladi is situated between Mudukulathur and Sayalgudi. It is a taluk headquarters and a revenue region of Ramanathapuram district. History Trade between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka took place ...

as a TMC candidate in the 2001 election. He represented Kadaladi, from 2001 until his death in 2006. In the

, So.Balakrishnan represented Mudukalathur for thirteen years and Kadaladi for five years. Balakrishnan unsuccessfully contested elections in the same

Ramanathapuram district Ramanathapuram District, also known as Ramnad District, is one of the 38 districts an administrative districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The old Ramanathapuram District consists of Present day Virudhunagar and Sivagangai districts, ...

on other occasions. In the General Elections of 1971, he was runner-up in the

Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency ( ta, இராமநாதபுரம் மக்களவைத் தொகுதி) is one of the 39 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. Assembly segmen ...

with 139,276 votes (38.87% of the total). In the state elections of

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...

, he contested from Mudukalathur and polled 37,175 votes (44.77%) but lost the election by 5536 votes. In the 1989 state elections, he contested from

, a coastal constituency that neighboured Mudukalathur, and gained 32,273 votes, which was 409 (0.38%) less than the winner. The total number of votes that were rejected or declared invalid in that constituency during the election was 1878 (1.71%).

Last days

On 4 September 2004, Balakrishnan suffered serious spinal injuries in a road accident at

Paramakudi Paramakudi, also Paramagudi, is the largest town in the district of Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, with a population of over 95,579 (2011 census). It has been the taluk headquarters since 1918, i.e. from the date of formation of Ramanathapuram ...

while returning from

Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 ki ...

after a discussion on

Sethusamudram Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project () is a proposed project to create a shipping route in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka. This would provide a continuously navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The channel would ...

Ship Channel Project with the then Union Shipping Minister. The accident resulted in prolonged illness after a brief improvement. He died on 24 June 2006. The then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

, in his condolence message recalled the effective speeches made by Balakrishnan in the Assembly and said that Balakrishnan was a role model for young legislators.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balakrishnan, S. Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu 2006 deaths Tamil Maanila Congress politicians Tamil Nadu MLAs 1996–2001 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2001–2006 Tamil Nadu MLAs 1991–1996 Year of birth missing