Arumugam Ramachandran is an Indian politician and the incumbent Mayor of Salem. A member of the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

(DMK) since 1961, he has served in a number of posts in the DMK's Salem unit.

Early life

Ramachandran was born to Arumugam of Gorimedu,

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

in 1944. He studied up to

SSLC The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (commonly referred to as SSLC) is a certification obtained by a student on successful completion of an examination at the end of study at the secondary schooling level in India. The SSLC is obtained o ...

Politics

Early years and recognition

In 1961, Ramachandran joined the

(DMK), then headed by

C.N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

. He participated in many protests held by DMK and went to prison numerous times. Later, he became close with senior DMK leaders such as Arcot N. Veeraswami, K. Sundaram,

Parithi Ilamvazhuthi Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, also known as Parithi Ellamvazhuthi, (11 November 1959 – 13 October 2018) was an Indian politician. Born as Gandhi to Elamparithi and Kannammal. His father Elamparithi was a DMK High Command member during 1970's & 80's. ...

, and C. Chittibabu. During his three-year stay in Chennai, Ramachandran worked with Chittibabu to erect a number of DMK flagpoles as instructed by the party's former president M. Karunanidhi. When Karunanidhi came to hoist the flag on these poles, he saw the name "Gorimedu Ramachandran" in the inscriptions beneath them and became curious to know about him. Eventually, Ramachandran met Karunanidhi and then his son

M. K. Stalin Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin ( , born 1 March 1953), often referred to by his initials MKS, is an Indian Tamil politician serving as the 8th and current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The son of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Stalin ...

Posts held in the party

After his return to Salem, Ramachandran resumed his partywork as member of the DMK's branch executive committee and branch secretary. In 1984, upon the recommendation of A. L. Thangavel (then DMK union secretary for Salem District) Ramachandran was appointed by Veerapandy S. Arumugam (then Salem District secretary) as the party's representative for

Salem district Salem District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district is now divided into Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal as individual districts. Salem is the district headquarters and other major towns in the distri ...

. After some time, he became the party treasurer for Hastampatti area. After the death of Veerapandy S. Arumugam in 2012, his successor R. Rajendran (secretary of Salem Central District DMK), appointed Ramachandran as Hastampatti area secretary. Additionally, he became the secretary of the

Parent teacher association A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...

at Kamarajar Girls Higher Secondary School, Manakkadu.

2022 civic polls

In the February 2022 Tamil Nadu urban local body elections, Ramachandran contested in Ward 6 of the

Salem City Municipal Corporation Salem City Municipal Corporation (SCMC) is a civic body that governs Salem city, India. It consists of a legislative and an executive body. The legislative body is headed by the city mayor while the executive body is headed by a Chief Commiss ...

. He defeated his nearest rival Vishnu Parthiban (of the AMMK) by a margin of 1,068 votes. Consequently, Ramachandran took oath as councillor on 2 March. The next day, the DMK's leadership declared him as its mayoral candidate for indirect election to the post. As no other candidate from the elected councillors filed their nomination for Mayorship, Ramachandran was elected unopposed to the post. He was sworn in as the sixth Mayor of Salem on 4 March, along with M. Saradha Devi (

INC Inc. or inc may refer to: * Incorporation (business), as a suffix indicating a corporation * ''Inc.'' (magazine), an American business magazine * Inc. No World, a Los Angeles-based band * Indian National Congress, a political party in India * I ...

councillor from Ward 7) as his deputy.

Mayorship (2022-)

Upon taking charge as Mayor, Ramachandran indicated that his focus would be on providing basic amenities such as water, drainage and road facilities. Later, he also mentioned the redeveloping of Panamarathupatti lake as one of his goals.

Personal life

Ramachandran is married to Meenatchi. The couple has a son named Sudarsan Babu and a daughter named Sumithra. Sudarsan Babu is a regional manager in

Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation ( ta, தமிழ்நாடு நுகர்பொருள் வாணிபக் கழகம் (வரையறுக்கப்பட்டது)) is governed by Government of Tamil Nadu wa ...

. Sumithra is a teacher at Government Higher Secondary School,

Kannankurichi Kannankurichi is a part of Salem City Municipal Corporation in Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Demographics India census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramachandran, A. 1944 births Living people People from Salem district Mayors of places in Tamil Nadu Mayors of Salem Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians