Tamil Nadu: Four-time Congress MLA and Dalit face of the party D Yasodha passes away

CHENNAI: D Yasodha, a four-time Congress MLA and the Dalit face of the party, passed away on Sunday morning. She was 76 and was ailing for some time.
Yasodha was elected to the state assembly in 1980, 1984, 2001 and 2006 elections. She represented the Sriperumbudur (Reserve) assembly segment. She held various posts in the party, including Mahila Congress and vice president of TNCC, besides being the Congress Legislature Party leader once.
A firebrand speaker, Yasodha, took up the cause of Dalits and downtrodden people in the state assembly.TNCC president K S Alagiri recalled her long association with the Congress in his condolence statement.
“Yasodha associated with the Congress party from her younger age was drawn by the principles of late K Kamaraj. She remained with the party and recently while participating in a Congress meeting, she complained of health issues and was rushed to the hospital,” Alagiri said.
DMK president M K Stalin in his condolence message said, Yasodha always voiced the concerns of the downtrodden.
“Even in the state assembly, irrespective of whether she was part of the ruling alliance or the opposition, the issues concerning the lives of the downtrodden mattered to her.
When ‘Thalaivar’ (M Karunanidhi) was the chief minister and I was the deputy chief minister, Yasodha will demand and get things done – not as a legislator but as a family member - for her Sriperumbudur assembly constituency,” Stalin said.