Dravidian stalwart K Anbazhagan dies at 97

DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan, the last of the Dravidian stalwarts and a fellow traveller of late party patriarch M Karunanidhi for nearly five decades, passed away here in the early hours of Saturday. He was 97.

He is survived by two daughters and a son.

Anbazhagan, widely known as 'Perasiriyar' (Professor), was keeping unwell for the past two years and his health deteriorated in the last few days. He breathed his last at around 1 am at the Apollo Hospitals here.

Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan is an academician-turned-politician who resigned his professor's job as it was preventing him from openly identifying himself as close to the DMK.

Anbazhagan, who had an impeccable command over Tamil, was a great orator who endeared thousands of youngsters towards the DMK during its heydays. He was elected to Lok Sabha once and to the Tamil Nadu Assembly nine times.

Elected as DMK's General Secretary in 1977 a few years after Karunanidhi was elevated as the President, Anbazhagan remained steadfastly loyal to the five-time chief minister. He remained in the position till his last breath.

Though there were differences of opinion with Karunanidhi, Anbazhagan remained loyal to the late DMK president till he breathed his last in August 2018.

Anbazhagan was the second-in-command in both the DMK and the Karunanidhi governments. The departed leader had served as Education and Finance Ministers in the DMK governments in 1971,1989,1996 and 2006.

"First I am a human being; secondly, I am Anbazhagan; thirdly a rationalist, fourthly the younger brother of Anna, fifthly the friend of Kalaignar. This will continue forever and only death can destroy the order (sic)," Anbazhagan had declared once.

Born as Kalyanasundaram Ramaiah in Kattur near Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district on December 19, 1922, he changed his name to Anbazhagan for his love for Tamil. After pursuing PG in Tamil at the Annamalai University, Anbazhagan landed in the job of an assistant professor at the famed Pachayappa's College in Chennai.

He got actively involved in the Dravidian movement and particularly the DMK because of his love for C N Annadurai, Anbazhagan felt his job was a hindrance in pursuing his ideological goals. He resigned his post in 1956 and contested the 1957 Assembly elections and won along with Annadurai and Karunanidhi.

Since he was a Lok Sabha member in 1967, Anbazhagan couldn't be part of the first DMK government. Though having shrugged shoulders with the likes of E V R Periyar, Annadurai and Karunanidhi, Anbazhagan endorsed M K Stalin even when Karunanidhi was alive.