CHENNAI: Veteran Congress leader and writer Kumari Ananthan, who was renowned for his Tamil prowess and oratorical skills, passed away late on Tuesday night at a private hospital in Chennai, where he was being treated for age-related ailments. He was 92.
Ananthan, born in in Kumarimangalam in Kanyakumari district, was naturally drawn to the Congress party since his father, who was a villu pattu exponent, took part in the freedom struggle. He added ‘Kumari’ to his name out of love for his place of birth.
His association with late Congress leader and Chief Minister K Kamaraj made him the organiser of Youth Congress. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977 from Nagercoil constituency. It was Ananthan who first insisted and obtained the right to ask questions in Tamil in Parliament. He was later elected as an MLA four times.
The Tamil Nadu government honoured him with the State government’s highest honour of Thagaisal the Thamizhar award in 2024. He was conferred the Kamarajar Award by the State government in 2021. He is survived by his daughter Tamilisai Soundararajan, senior leader of the BJP, who earlier served as Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry. His younger brother, the late H Vasanthakumar, founded the popular Vasanth & Co chain of stores and was elected from the Congress to the Lok Sabha from Kanniyakumari, a constituency the entrepreneur's son Vijay Vasanth now represents.
Ananthan floated his own party called Gandhi Kamaraj Desiya Congress in 1980, but it was not successful. Later he launched Thondar Congress in March 2001 and after an electoral defeat, he merged the outfit with the Congress. The books he penned include Neengalum Pechaalaraagalam (You can also become an orator), Sembanai Naadu, Paarathira Paadiya Bharathi, Nilaitha Pughaludaiyor.
