Govindaswamy Karuppiah Moopanar (19 August 1931 – 30 August 2001) known as G. K. Moopanar was a

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) is the wing of Indian National Congress serving in Tamil Nadu. The current president is K.S. Alagari. Social policy of the TNCC is officially based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya (upliftment of all ...

leader, parliamentarian, and social worker.He was served as Member of the Rajya Sabha , president of

and general secretary of

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

. from 1980 to 1988. Moopanar was a close associate of Congress leader and former

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with th ...

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

Early life

Moopanar was born on 19 August 1931 at Kabisthalam village in the composite Thanjavur district, the rice granary of Tamil Nadu. His father was Govindaswamy Moopanar and his mother was Saraswathi Ammal. He belonged to a family of landed aristocracy that owned vast tracts of fertile land. His father R. Govindasamy Moopanar was a Congressman. The family patronised music, arts and literature. Moopanar himself was president of the Tiruvaiyaru Sri Thyaga Brahma Mahotsava Sabha from 1980 until his death. This Sabha conducts the annual Thyagaraja music festival at Tiruvaiyaru, the saint-composer’s birthplace.Makkalthalaivar GK Moopanar » Life History
Makkalthalaivar.org. Retrieved on 12 November 2018.

Political career

Moopanar first met Kamaraj and Jayaprakash Narayan when they called on his father Govindasamy Moopanar at his home at Sundaraperumal Kovil, near Kumbakonam, in 1951. Kamaraj was then TNCC president. Moopanar became the president of the Thanjavur district Congress committee in 1965. When the Congress split in 1969 Moopanar continued with Kamaraj. After Kamaraj’s death on 2 October 1975, the two Congress factions in Tamil Nadu merged in 1976. At the merger function,

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

announced that Moopanar would be the president of the unified TNCC. From then onwards, his rise in the Congress was swift. He was TNCC president from 1976 to 1980, and again in 1988–89. He was a puissant AICC general secretary from 1980 to 1988. Moopanar founded the Tamil Maanila Congress in the year 1996 (TMC) party. He was a Rajya Sabha member when he died. Both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi offered him ministership but he declined. Ayya G

He also shunned the Prime Minister’s post offered to him in April 1997 after the fall of the United Front government led by

H.D. Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karnat ...

. In a volume titled Makkal Thalaivar Moopanar, published by a TMC leader in August 2000, former Union Minister

R. Dhanuskodi Athithan R. Dhanuskodi Athithan (born 6 March 1953) is an Indian politician who was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Tirunelveli constituency of Tamil Nadu and is a member of the Indian National Congress The Indian Nati ...

has recalled that CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet declared that "Mr. Moopanar is the best and first choice" for the prime ministership. West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu seconded the choice. However Karunanithi and Murasoli Maran did not agree to it, so Moopanar declined the offer. The TMC felt orphaned with the death of Moopanar. The party quickly tried to steady itself when at a meeting of its legislators, Rajya Sabha members and leaders on 1 September, Moopanar’s son G.K. Vasan was elected TMC president. G karuppaiah moopanaar memorial

After the demise of Moopanar, under the new leadership of his son

G K Vasan G. K. Vasan (born Govindaswamy Karuppiah Vasan, 28 December 1964) is an Indian Politician and son of G. K Moopanar, a veteran Indian National Congress Leader. G K Vasan is currently the president of Tamil Maanila Congress (M), a political ...

, the TMC merged back with the Congress led by

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moopanar 1931 births 2001 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu People from Thanjavur district Tamil Maanila Congress politicians