Chennai: The first Bharatiya Janata Party member to be elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, C. Velayuthan, passed away at his hometown in Kanyakumari district Wednesday at the age of 73.
Velayuthan, who was elected to the state assembly to represent the Padmanabhapuram constituency in 1996, had been undergoing treatment for diabetes and other old age-related ailments for a long time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to offer his condolences. “It is people like him who have built our party in Tamil Nadu and explained our development agenda to the people. He will also be remembered for his concern for the poor and downtrodden,” he wrote on X.
Anguished by the passing away of Thiru C. Velayutham Ji, the first BJP MLA from Tamil Nadu. It is people like him who have built our Party in Tamil Nadu and explained our development agenda to the people. He will also be remembered for his concern for the poor and downtrodden.…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 8, 2024
Velayuthan, who was also a social activist from the Kanyakumari region, had first contested elections from the Padmanabhapuram assembly constituency in 1989, and secured fourth position with 18.26 percent of the vote.
Senior BJP leaders in Kanyakumari recalled that he belonged to a poor family and had to secure a loan to meet the election expenses back then. “He was popular among the locals in Padmanabhapuram. For the first election, he managed to sell his land and secure loans to meet the expenses,” said Sajayan, a BJP member.
In 1991, he contested for the second time and secured 23 percent of the voted. It was only in 1996 that he was able to win the seat with 31.76 percent of the vote, pushing Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham candidate Bala Janathipathy to the second position.
Political commentator T. Sigamani said that Kanyakumari has always been a fertile ground for national parties since there is a high minority population there.
“Especially after the Mandaikadu riots in 1982 (between Hindu and Christian fishermen), the region saw huge polarisation, paving the way for the BJP. Apart from the polarisation factor, Velayuthan had the support of the local people, which led to his victory in 1996,” Sigamani added.
However, Velayuthan was not able to retain the Padmanabhapuram seat in subsequent elections, and lost in 2001 and 2006.
He still holds the record of being the only BJP MLA to be elected to the Tamil Nadu assembly without the support of either of the state’s two big Dravidian parties.
In 2001, BJP fought elections on as many as 21 seats in alliance with the DMK, and managed to win four. After this, until the 2021 polls, it was unable to have a single MLA elected to the assembly. In 2021, BJP joined hands with AIADMK for 20 seats, and managed to win four of them.
BJP national president J.P. Nadda also acknowledged Velayuthan’s contributions in a post on X, writing, “His commitment and dedication to the party and society will always be remembered. My deepest condolences to his family and supporters in this difficult time.”
Deeply saddened by the passing away of former MLA and social worker C. Velayutham ji. He was the first-ever assembly candidate elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the BJP, representing the Padmanabhapuram constituency in the 1996 elections. His commitment and…
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (Modi Ka Parivar) (@JPNadda) May 8, 2024
BJP state president K. Annamalai also posted on X, calling him an “ideologically strong man” who “sowed the seeds of confidence in developing the party”.
தமிழக பாஜகவின் முதல் சட்டமன்ற உறுப்பினரும், கட்சியின் முன்னோடிகளில் ஒருவருமான, ஐயா திரு.C.வேலாயுதன் அவர்கள் காலமானார் என்ற செய்தி மிகுந்த வருத்தமளிக்கிறது.
கட்சியின் வளர்ச்சிக்கு அரும்பாடு பட்டவர். கொள்கைப் பிடிப்பு மிக்கவர். கடினமான உழைப்பாளி. தமிழகத்தில் பாஜகவின்… pic.twitter.com/xcAgXYoQBa
— K.Annamalai (மோடியின் குடும்பம்) (@annamalai_k) May 8, 2024
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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