VR Nedunchezhiyan

VR Nedunchezhiyan (also Nedunchezhian ; Tamil : இரா. நெடுஞ்செழியன் Irā. Neṭuñceḻiyaṉ [ ˈneɖɯɲˌʒeɻijən ]; * July 11, 1920 in Tirukkannapuram ; † January 12, 2000 in Chennai ) was an Indian politician ( DMK and AIADMK ). He was twice (1969 and 1987/88) each for a short time acting Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu . In addition, Nedunchezhiyan held various ministerial posts under the Chief Ministers from 1967-76, 1980-87 and 1991-96CN Annadurai , M. Karunanidhi , MG Ramachandran, and J. Jayalalithaa . From his followers he was given the honorary title Navalar ( நாவலர் Nāvalar [ ˈnɑːʋələr ] "scholar").

Early years and time at DMK

V. R. NEDUNCHEZHIYAN was born on July 11, 1920 in the village Tirukkannapuram in the district Thanjavur born. During his studies at Annamalai University he came into contact with politics and in 1944 he joined the organization Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) founded by EV Ramasami .

In 1949 VR Nedunchezhiyan was one of the founding members of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which split off from DK under CN Annadurai . From 1949 to 1955 Nedunchezhiyan was deputy general secretary, from 1955 to 1961 general secretary and from 1961 to 1969 chairman of the party council of the DMK. In 1962 he was first elected to the Madras state parliament and served as opposition leader. The next elections in 1967 won the DMK and came to power in the state of Madras, which was renamed Tamil Nadu a little later. In the new cabinet under CN Annadurai, VR Nedunchezhiyan was Deputy Chief Minister.

After Annadurai's death on February 3, 1969, Nedunchezhiyan took over the official duties as Chief Minister. However, he was unable to prevail in the internal power struggle against his rival M. Karunanidhi , so that he was elected as the new Chief Minister on February 10th. During Karunanidhi's tenure, Nedunchezhiyan was deputy chief minister until 1976.

Time in the AIADMK

After the Karunanidhi government was ousted in 1976, Nedunchezhiyan left the DMK and founded their own party, the Makkal DMK , together with another former DMK politician, Sathyavani Muthu . The new elections in 1977 won the AIADMK , which had split off from the DMK under the leadership of the actor MG Ramachandran , and a year later Nedunchezhiyan joined the AIADMK with his Makkal DMK. In the MG Ramachandran cabinet, VR Nedunchezhiyan served as Minister of Finance from 1980 to 1987. After MG Ramachandran's death on December 29, 1987, Nedunchezhiyan took over again provisionally the office of Chief Minister. On January 7, 1988, however, Janaki Ramachandran , MG Ramachandran's widow, was sworn in as Chief Minister.

In the power struggle that then broke out in the AIADMK over the successor to MG Ramachandran, Nedunchezhiyan sided with J. Jayalalithaas . Because of internal quarrels he was expelled from the party in August 1988, but returned in October 1989 to the AIADMK, which was reunited under the leadership of Jayalalithaas. After the AIADMK's election victory, he served as Finance Minister in the Jayalalithaas government from 1991 to 1996.

On January 12, 2000, VR Nedunchezhiyan died of heart failure at the age of 79. He left behind his wife and a son.

Web links

• The Hindu: Nedunchezhiyan dies of heart failure, January 13, 2000.