Ramasamy Thamaraikani (19 October 1946 – 15 September 2005) was an Indian politician from

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 ...

and a

Member of Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...

. He was elected to Tamil Nadu state assembly five times from Srivilliputhur constituency, three times as an

Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory ...

(ADMK) candidate under

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

, once as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

and once as an ADMK candidate under

Jayalalitha Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...

. He has been referred to as ''maverick'' and ''irrepressible'' by media.

Personal life

Thamaraikani was born on 19 October 1946 to S. Ramasamy and R. Shanmugathai. He was married to R. Devaki and had four sons and one daughter. He died in a private hospital in

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

on 15 September 2005 at age 59.

Political career

ADMK under M. G. Ramachandran

Thamaraikani was a staunch supporter of

(MGR) since his school days. He became 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 ...

after winning a seat in the 1977 election as a candidate of the ADMK in Srivilliputhur constituency. He won the seat again in

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 Sys ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. After the death of Ramachandran, he contested the 1989 election unsuccessfully as a supporter of the Janaki faction. However, he won the 1991 election as an independent candidate.

ADMK under Jayalalitha

Thamaraikani joined ADMK under Jayalalitha and won the 1996 assembly election as an ADMK candidate. He became a leader of the ADMK in the assembly for a brief period. He was also the chairman of Srivilliputhur municipality between 1996 and 2000. He was expelled from ADMK by Jayalalitha for alleged anti-party activities. He lost the Lok Sabha election contesting as an independent against ADMK candidate V. Ramaswami, former judge of Supreme Court. He was later re-admitted to the ADMK in November 1999 after expressing regret for his anti-party activities.

DMK

He joined

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 ...

(DMK) in June 2001 claiming that the leaders of the Ramachandran generation had gone. During his time in DMK party, he lost the 2001 assembly election to his son, Inbatamizhan, fielded by ADMK.

Electoral Career

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Elections Contested

Assembly attack

During a debate in Tamil Nadu assembly on 23 March 1999, Thamaraikani attacked the then Agriculture Ministers Veerapandi S. Arumugam. The debate was about the law and order situation started by Thamaraikani's partyman. Following the incident, he was subsequently swept to the ground by other DMK members. He was later taken into police custody and suspended along with ADMK MLA C. Karuppasami for the rest of the budget session by speaker P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thamaraikani, R. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians 1946 births 2005 deaths All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Tamil Nadu MLAs 1985–1989 Tamil Nadu MLAs 1996–2001 Tamil Nadu MLAs 1991–1996 Independent politicians in India