Veerapandi S Arumugam (26 January 1937 – 23 November 2012) was a

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

politician. He was born to Solai Goundar in Poolavari,

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 ...

. He died on 23 November 2012 in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

due to illness.

Political career

Arumugam first became a

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 ...

member in 1957. He has for decades been the face of the DMK in the Salem region. He held the Veerapandi Assembly seat with a vise-like grip. In his early age he was inspired by the writings and speeches of the late Chief Minister and DMK founder C. N. Annadurai and party chief M Karunanidhi, Arumugam plunged into politics when he was 14. He was elected to the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

five times. Arumugam was among the few non-founding leaders in the DMK, who enjoyed unquestioned respect and stature. He also served as the Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration and the Minister for

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arumugam, Veerapandi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Tamil Nadu ministers 1937 births People from Salem district 2012 deaths Madras MLAs 1962–1967 Tamil Nadu MLAs 1967–1971 Tamil Nadu MLAs 1971–1976 Tamil Nadu MLAs 1996–2001