Harikrishnan Nadar Vasanthakumar (14 April 195028 August 2020) was an Indian businessman and politician. He was the founder and chairman of Vasanth & Co, one of the largest retail home appliance chains 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 was also the founder and managing director of the Tamil satellite TV channel

Vasanth TV Vasanth TV is a Tamil language, Tamil entertainment satellite channel which is owned by Vinoth Vasanthakumar of Vasanth & Co Group. The company has tied up with Tata Communications for providing the uplinking facilities.Telecasted Mobile app T ...

. He was elected as the member of parliament to the

17th Lok Sabha The 17th Lok Sabha was formed by the members elected in the 2019 Indian general election. Elections, all across India, were conducted in seven phases from 11 April 2019 to 19 May 2019 by the Election Commission of India. Counting started offici ...

from Kanyakumari constituency in the

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...

. He was also elected as

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

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 ...

from

Nanguneri Nanguneri is a panchayat town in Tirunelveli district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nanguneri is a Taluk Headquarters in the District of Tirunelveli situated at a distance of from the headquarters of the District. Vanamamalai Perumal t ...

constituency in the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2016 elections Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 April 2016 Djibouti * 2016 Djiboutian presidential ...

Early life

Vasanthakumar was born in

Agastheeswaram Agastheeswaram is a panchayat town in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. History Agasteeswaram is named after Agastya, Sage Agastya, who visited this place to teach the Ramayana. Most of t ...

in the Kanniyakumari district to Harikrishnan Nadar and Thangammal on 14 April 1950. He completed his primary education from a Panchayat board school in Kanniyakumari, later obtaining his

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

and

master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Tamil literature 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 ...

from

Madurai Kamaraj University Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) is a public state university located in Madurai city, in southern Tamil Nadu, India, that was established in 1966. MKU is one of the 15 universities in India with the University with Potential for Excellence sta ...

. His brother,

Kumari Ananthan Harikrishnan Nadar Ananthakrishnan (19 March 1933 – 9 April 2025), popularly known as Kumari Ananthan, was an Indian politician who was leader of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. He was Perumthalivar Kamarajar awardee of the year in 2021. ...

, was also a legislator from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Business career

He started his career as a salesman in the early 1970s, including working with VGP. In 1978, he started his own home appliances sales showroom Vasanth & Co, with its first store in the T. Nagar neighborhood in Chennai. The company went on to become one of the leading retail chains with showrooms across

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, and

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: Places in India * Puducherry (union territory), formerly known as Pondicherry ** Puducherry (city), capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district The Puducherry District, also know ...

. Vasanthakumar and his company are credited with pioneering sales of consumer electronics goods on equated monthly installments in the Indian market, as well as centralized after-sales support. Vasanthakumar founded the Tamil satellite television network

in 2008.

Political career

Vasanthakumar started his political career as a worker with the

political party taking up multiple local organizational roles. His first electoral politics stint was in 2006, as the MLA of

from the

constituency in Tamil Nadu. He won the elections by defeating S.P. Sooryakumar of the

All India 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 Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, sta ...

political party. This was a significant win for the

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

because it was after three decades that the party was able to win this electoral seat. One of his campaign promises included the establishment of a

Special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

with a hi-tech park in Nanguneri. He contested the election from Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 against

Pon Radhakrishnan Pon Radhakrishnan (born 1 March 1952) is an Indian politician representing the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping between May 2014 and May 2019. Earlier, he served as the U ...

and lost the elections. In his second term as a member of the

, he represented Nanguneri again in 2016. He served the constituency until 2019 when he went on to become the MP, as a member of the

from the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency. He won this election, against the incumbent Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Shipping

, by winning with a margin of over 250,000 votes. He was the working President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) from 2019 through his death in August 2020. Earlier, he had served as the Vice-President of the TNCC, and also as the Chairman of the TNCC Traders wing.

Electoral Career

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Elections Contested

Lok Sabha Elections Contested

Writings

Vasanthakumar wrote a three part autobiographical book series in Tamil, titled ''"Vetri Padikattu"'' – ( Ladder of Success), focusing on his entrepreneurial success and community building initiatives.

Death

Vasanthakumar died of complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

at the

Apollo Hospitals 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 eponym ...

in Chennai on 28 August 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of , according to Indian government ...

. He was admitted to the hospital on 10 August 2020, and was on

ECMO Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a form of extracorporeal life support, providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to people whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of oxygen, gas exchange or blood su ...

and ventilator life support, prior to his death.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief mini ...

Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Congress leader and

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

Rahul Gandhi Rahul Rajiv Gandhi (; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he is currently serving as the 12th leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and as the member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareli Lok ...

Governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Governor (India), Governors in India have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at the central level. They exist in the Sta ...

Banwarilal Purohit Banwarilal Purohit (born 16 April 1940) is an Indian politician. He was the former List of governors of Punjab, India, Governor of Punjab, India and Administrator of Chandigarh from September 2021, Governor of Tamil Nadu from 2017 to 2021, an ...

among others were amongst those who expressed their condolences. He is survived by his wife Tamil Selvi, two sons, and a daughter. His wife was also undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the time of his death.

References

, -

External links

Vasanth TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasanthakumar, H. 1950 births 2020 deaths India MPs 2019–2024 20th-century Indian businesspeople 21st-century Indian businesspeople Businesspeople from Tamil Nadu Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu People from Kanyakumari district Tamil businesspeople United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Madurai Kamaraj University alumni Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu