<p>One of the senior-most DMK leaders and a former State Minister, Veerapandi S Arumugam, passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on Friday after a brief illness. He was 75. <br /><br /></p>.<p>His demise coincided with the seventh death anniversary of the late Union Minister Murasoli Maran. <br /><br />Veerapandi, as the deceased leader was widely known, is survived by his wife two sons and a daughter. Hailing from an OBC vanniyar family in Phulawari village near Salem in January 1937, he rose from the ranks and was the undisputed Salem District Secretary of the DMK for almost 40 years, until his death.<br /><br />Elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly six times since 1962, Veerapandi Arumugam in the last 2011 polls, lost to one of his close relatives and AIADMK candidate, Ms Vijayalakshmi Palanichamy, in the Sankagiri constituency near Salem.</p>
<p>One of the senior-most DMK leaders and a former State Minister, Veerapandi S Arumugam, passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on Friday after a brief illness. He was 75. <br /><br /></p>.<p>His demise coincided with the seventh death anniversary of the late Union Minister Murasoli Maran. <br /><br />Veerapandi, as the deceased leader was widely known, is survived by his wife two sons and a daughter. Hailing from an OBC vanniyar family in Phulawari village near Salem in January 1937, he rose from the ranks and was the undisputed Salem District Secretary of the DMK for almost 40 years, until his death.<br /><br />Elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly six times since 1962, Veerapandi Arumugam in the last 2011 polls, lost to one of his close relatives and AIADMK candidate, Ms Vijayalakshmi Palanichamy, in the Sankagiri constituency near Salem.</p>
