Chennai: After Tamil Nadu electricity minister V. Senthil Balaji, the Enforcement Directorate Monday conducted raids at nine locations connected to Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy and his son Gautham Sigamani.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin rallied behind his minister. “ED searches are the reflection of BJP’s irritation over opposition parties’ unity in Bihar and Bengaluru to defeat the BJP,” he said.
Stalin further said that the case against Ponmudy was foisted by the Jayalalithaa government 13 years ago.
A former academician and a popular leader widely perceived to have a short fuse, Ponmudy keeps the Udayar community largely faithful to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Villupuram and the neighbouring districts.
Ponmudy is the latest DMK minister on the radar of the Bharatiya Janata Party-All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (BJP-AIADMK) alliance after the Madras High Court refused to stay the corruption case against him for allegedly aiding his son Gautham Sigamani and close aides in illegal quarrying of red sand in Villupuram. The case is with regard to the period between 13 February, 2007, and 15 May, 2007, when Ponmudy was the minister of mines and minerals in the then DMK government.
Gautham, also an MP from Kallakurichi, had sought the dismissal of the case, which is now pending in the MP-MLA special court Villupuram under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Soon after, the court dismissed Gautham’s petition, the Tamil Nadu State BJP president K. Annamalai took to social media and said, “DMK Minister Ponmudy has willfully caused a loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 28.4 Crores by illegal mining and exploiting his position as minister. Will M.K. Stalin sack his Minister Ponmudy as it is becoming increasingly clear that he has willfully caused a huge loss of Rs 28.4 crore to the state government of TN, or would he also be shielded like how cash for job scam accused Senthil Balaji is protected?”
AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP C. Ve Shanmugam, who defeated Ponmudy in the 2011 elections, told ThePrint, “There is documented evidence. It is a clear case. As a minister he was favouring his son and his son was living under his roof. He has misused his office.”
ThePrint reached Ponmudy via calls but the minister refused to comment.
Meanwhile, political analysts in the state have dismissed the case as an old one. Suman C. Raman, a political analyst, told ThePrint, “There are no new charges made, and these charges won’t have any impact unless there is a conviction.”
Ponmudy has also made headlines often for locking horns with Governor R.N. Ravi.
Ponmudy Wednesday refused to attend the convocation ceremony of Periyar University in Salem.
According to media reports, on 8 June, the minister had alleged that the governor was causing delays in handing over degree certificates to over 9 lakh students since the latter wanted Union ministers to be invited as guests and was citing their unavailability as the reason for the delay in giving his consent.
Ponmudy had earlier also reportedly said that students were unable to apply for admission to foreign educational institutions due to the delay in the convocations of their respective universities.
On 15 June, while Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin and Ravi fought over the continuation of arrested minister Senthil Balaji in the cabinet, Ponmudy reportedly alleged that the governor was acting against the Constitution and state autonomy by interfering in the administration.
A year ago, in July, Ponmudy, scheduled to attend a convocation event at Madurai Kamarajar University (MKU), had boycotted that event, too, alleging that the governor was “playing politics” by inviting BJP Minister L. Murugan as guest of honour without consulting him.
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Ponmudy’s political journey
The 72-year-old DMK loyalist, Ponmudy has ensured that the north-east district of Villupuram in Tamil Nadu — the largest in the state according to the district’s administration website — remains under the party’s control.
Ponmudy’s political journey in Villupuram has also seen its fair share of caste-based politics.
“Villupuram had a dominant Vanniyar population that shifted from the DMK to Pattali Makkal Katchi, which is focused on the Vanniyar caste. “In the Vanniyar-dominated district of Villupuram, Ponmudy of the influential land-possessing Udayar community garnered enough support to win from the constituency four times,” said political analyst Priyan Srinivasan to ThePrint.
According to a report published by The Hindu, 38 per cent of members of the Udayar community voted for the DMK, while 32 per cent voted for the AIADMK and the remaining 30 per cent voted for others in the 2021 polls.
The district has seven assembly constituencies and in 2021, four of these were won by the DMK, including the one in Villupuram.
In the last two elections, Ponmudy has shifted his constituency from Villupuram to his home constituency of Tirukkoyilur, another constituency in the district which has a high Udayar population.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a DMK district member from Villupuram said, “Ponmudy over the years had sidelined several Vanniyar leaders, like MLA K.P. Palaniappan, Tindivanam G. Venkatraman, and that has caused a lot of displeasure within the community.”
The DMK source added that after Ponmudy became the face of the district in front of the party high command and became the district secretary, he cast aside those he perceived as competition and gave his loyalists more opportunities.
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Professor to minister
A six-time MLA, Ponmudy was a professor of politics before entering electoral politics. With a Phd and triple masters, Ponmudy is among the most academically qualified people in the Tamil Nadu state cabinet at present.
He is remembered fondly by his former colleagues as a passionate academician and has a dedicated student following. “Whenever the minister goes out, he makes it a point to stop his vehicle and speak to school or college students if he sees any. He asks them about their studies and their curriculum,” said Valavanur Anbarasu, DMK Villupuram IT Wing secretary, who has known the minister for the past 15 years.
Retired Professor Kalyani alias Pirapa Kalvimani who worked alongside Ponmudy in Villupuram’s government college said, “Ponmudy was a very well-read person and used to be liked by the students in the campus. He was one of those teachers who wanted to impart knowledge to his students and didn’t just see it as a money-making endeavour.”
Personally, too, Ponmudy and his family were warm and engaging, said Kalyani. A physics professor, Kalyani also gave Ponmudy’s son Gautham tuition classes when he was in class 10.
Ponmudy’s political journey began in 1989, when he was first given a ticket from Villupuram. He received great support from the district at the time, said analyst Priyan Srinivasan.
A Tamil author and Villupuram native Jyoti Narasimhan — who as a young man worked on DMK campaigns and was among those who went canvassing for Ponmudy in 1989 — told ThePrint, “In those days, the contestants would go around the constituency in open jeeps and greet the voters. Wherever we went, there used to be a huge reception for Ponmudy….There were 500 to 600 students who led the campaigns for the professor. People in the district also saw him as an educated man capable of doing good.”
In his political campaigns, too, Ponmudy spoke about the importance of education. “The first thing he would ask people would be if they are sending their children to school or college. If he met children, then the conversation would be about their studies.”
The 1989 election results had barely been announced when Ponmudy received the news that he had been appointed the minister of health in the DMK government.
However, the DMK government was short-lived and dismissed by the PM on charges of alleged anti-national activities under Article 356 (president’s rule). In the following 1991 state assembly election, the DMK won in just two seats, and the election was swept by the AIADMK led by J. Jayalalithaa.
In 1996, Ponmudy won back his seat from Villupuram and was made minister but this time of transport and highways. In the 2006 election, when DMK returned to power, he became the minister of higher education, a profile that he was given again in 2021.
In Villupuram, the constituency from where Ponmudy contested maximum number of times his supporters attribute the development in the district to Ponmudy.
“In Villupuram, we have a ‘pre-‘ and ‘post-Ponmudy’ period. Ponmudy, after becoming minister, brought in development projects to the district,” said AnbarasU.
Countering this claim, AIADMK’s Shanmugam said, “Everyone in power has done something or the other for the district. It cannot be an excuse for looting. That is corruption.”
Ponmudy and controversies
Apart from being a capable academician and administrator, Ponmudy is also known for another character trait — his short temper.
However, according to Anbarasu, he also “cools down within minutes”. “He is a very straightforward person and even if he scolds someone, within minutes he talks to them normally like nothing happened. He takes care of his team,” he said.
However, in the past year, he has made headlines often for his comments.
In May 2022, while speaking at an event he had questioned the rationale behind the argument that learning Hindi could open more employment opportunities. “Many said you will get jobs if you learn Hindi. Is it so? Look here in Coimbatore, who is selling pani puri? It is them (Hindi-speakers).” This comment on the Hindi-speaking community had caused an outcry against him.
In response to Ponmudy’s comment, governor Ravi had said: “An impression is created by some people that the central government is imposing a language on Tamil Nadu or anywhere. I think that’s far from the truth.”
In another incident in October last year, the DMK minister was criticised for referring to DMK’s free bus travel scheme for women as “OC bus”, OC being slang for “free”. The opposition had criticised the minister and the DMK’s attitude towards welfare schemes.
“This is in the DMK’s genes,” Shanmugam had said according to reports. “Not just Ponmudy, many others also speak the same language and tone.”
Meanwhile, Anbarasu, who handles Ponmudy’s social media pages as well said, “The video of the minister talking about OC bus was taken out of context. He was using ‘colloquial language’ but the opposition took his speech out of context.”
“The Minister has now become more aware of the issues one can face via social media and is more conscious and is also trying to learn and understand how social media works,” he added.
At a time when one of the ministers in the DMK cabinet Senthil Balaji is facing corruption charges and is being investigated by the ED, the DMK and its party leadership is being watched carefully. Speaking about the opposition’s efforts to bring down the ruling party, Priyan said: “DMK needs to be cornered. It is what the opposition wants and they want the DMK’s support to be reduced.”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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