Chennai: DMK stalwart Anbazhagan passes away – Times of India

CHENNAI: Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan, the last of the Dravidian stalwarts and general secretary of the DMK, died at Apollo Hospitals here at 1am on Saturday. He was 97.
Doctors said Anbazhagan, who was admitted to the hospital for age-related ailments, was given intensive medical care including life support through ventilation. His condition deteriorated on Friday.
Popularly known as Perasiriyar (professor), Anbazhagan who had an M A degree in Tamil, was a close associate of late DMK president M Karunanidhi, with whom he had constructive differences of opinion, but never made public his criticism. He was content to play second fiddle.
Born on December 19, 1922, at Katoor near Thiruvarur, Anbazhagan was drawn to Dravidian politics as a student by the fiery oratory of E V Ramasamy or Periyar and later C N Annadurai. Despite being admonished by the senior Dravidian leaders to focus on his studies, he continued to dabble in politics while pursuing his education. Anbazhagan, Navalar Nedunchezhian and Era Chezhian were a troika and were, with Annadurai, the prominent Mudaliyar faces in the Dravidian movement.
While he was not as flamboyant as many of his contemporaries in the Dravidian movement, Anbazhagan was one of the 15 legislators to be elected on the DMK ticket to the state assembly in 1957 for the first time, along with Anna and Karunanidhi. Despite losing in the 1962 assembly polls, he became an MLC and later an MP in 1967, representing the Thiruchengode parliamentary constituency.