AIADMK leader Karuppasamy Pandian passes away at 75

Chennai:  Senior AIADMK leader and former MLA V. Karuppasamy Pandian died while sleeping at his residence in Thiruththu near Palayamkottai on Wednesday.

He was 75.

He is survived by his wife, three sons, and two daughters.

Pandian began his political journey in 1972, joining the AIADMK soon after the legendary Tamil actor and politician M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) founded the party.

He was first elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the Alangulam constituency in 1977 and later from Palayamkottai in 1980.

However, he failed to retain the Palayamkottai seat in the 1984 elections. Following the death of MGR in December 1987, the AIADMK was split into factions led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki. Pandian backed Jayalalithaa and contested the 1989 Assembly election from Alangulam but lost.

Subsequently, he distanced himself from the AIADMK after losing the election. He returned to the party in 1991 when Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister and was later appointed the Deputy General Secretary in 1996.

However, in 2000, he was expelled from the AIADMK for alleged anti-party activities. That same year, he joined the DMK.

Pandian’s political fortunes saw ups and downs with the DMK. He lost the 2001 Assembly election from Tenkasi but bounced back by winning the same seat in 2006.

His 2011 attempt to regain the seat ended in defeat. He lost the seat to actor R. Sarathkumar. His relationship with the DMK also became strained.

In 2015, he was suspended from the party for allegedly influencing the appointment of his son, V.K.P. Shankar, to a party post.

A year later, in July 2016, he returned to the AIADMK, despite previously criticising Jayalalithaa during his time with the DMK. After Jayalalithaa’s death later that year, he was appointed as one of the organising secretaries of the AIADMK by her close aide V.K. Sasikala.

However, Pandian resigned from the post in February 2017, expressing his disapproval of TTV Dhinakaran’s appointment as Deputy General Secretary.

In 2018, he again joined the DMK following the demise of M. Karunanidhi, hoping to secure a key role under M.K. Stalin’s leadership. When his aspirations remained unfulfilled, Pandian returned to the AIADMK and extended his support to party leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

–IANS