VILLUPURAM: Vikrawandi MLA and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Villupuram district (south) secretary N Pugazhenthi passed away on Saturday morning. He was admitted to Government Villupuram Medical College Hospital after falling ill during a public meeting near Villupuram on Friday evening.
Hospital sources stated, "He was suffering from liver cancer and was undergoing treatment for it." When he fainted at the meeting spot, he was immediately taken to the hospital on Friday evening. His condition worsened on Saturday morning, prompting a medical team from Chennai to rush to Mundiyampakkam, but unfortunately, Pugazhenthi succumbed to his illness.
Pugazhenthi was elected from the Vikrawandi assembly constituency in 2021. Earlier, he contested in the 2019 by-election in the same constituency but was defeated by an AIADMK candidate. He also served as the chairman of the Koliyanur Panchayat Union in 1996.
In the DMK party, he began his political career as a branch secretary in 1973 and rose to become a district representative in 1980. He was appointed as the Villupuram district secretary in 2020 and was a staunch supporter of Minister K Ponmudy.