Former DMK minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi dies

CHENNAI: Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, a prominent dalit face of the DMK for close to three decades and one who single handedly fought wordy battles in the assembly for the DMK for five years (1991-1996) when the AIADMK had a majority in the House, is no more. He was 58.
He was admitted to a city hospital two days ago after he complained about breathlessness. He died of a cardiac arrest at 5.45am on Saturday.
Ilamvazhuthi had the knack of getting under the skin of his adversaries including the indomitable J Jayalalithaa.It won’t be an exaggeration to say that much of what he spoke in the assembly during Jayalalithaa’s tenure as chief minister was expunged from the records as it was laced with caustic innuendoes.
M K Stalin acknowledged Parithi Ilamvazhuti’s contribution to build the DMK youth wing
He rose to the level of DMK deputy general secretary. His fall started with his fallout with M K Stalin, now DMK president, in 2013. Stalin was party treasurer then. After shifting to the AIADMK when Jayalalithaa was alive, he contested and lost from Egmore on an AIADMK ticket in the 2016 assembly elections.
Karunanidhi’s Abhimanyu who fought AIADMK single-handedly in assembly
Parithi Ilamvazhuthi joined the O Panneerselvam camp when the party split in 2017 February, but when the two camps united months later, he lashed out at OPS for being an opportunist and chose to go with the rebel leader T T V Dhinakaran.
He was a minister in the DMK regime between 2006 and 2011. Ilamvazhuthi was first elected to the Tamil Nadu assembly in the 1984 assembly elections from Perambur constituency on DMK ticket when he was just 25 years old. In the 1989 assembly elections, he contested from Egmore (reserved) constituency and won. He continued to win in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006 assembly elections. He lost for the first time on DMK ticket in the 2011 assembly election from Egmore constituency. He did not win an election thereafter.
Ilamvazhuthi shot into prominence in 1991 as he was one of the only two DMK leaders to win in the assembly elections, held in the aftermath of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Former DMK chief M Karunanidhi was the other MLA. As Karunanidhi chose to resign, it was left to Ilamvazhuthi to take on the mighty AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa.
Karunanidhi called Illamvazhuti Abhimanyu and Indrajith for taking on the AIADMK singlehandedly. “More often than not Ilamvazhuthi was bundled out of the House for staging agitations. Soon, he realised the traditional attire of dhoti was unsuitable for his style of politics. Amid hostile AIADMK MLAs, dhotis often came off,” said DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan. Ilamvazhuthi, for once, decided to shift to pants, black in hue in line with his ideology.’ He was a good orator and his speeches were interlaced with subtle humour. Ilamvazhuthi escaped an attempt on his life in 2001. “Since the party youth wing was started, Ilamvazhuthi was along with me. He grew in the party and became an MLA at a very young age. He was involved in propagating the DMK’s ideology,” said Stalin, who was one of the first to pay homage in the morning. Karunanidhi had a special liking for Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, said Stalin.
Cremation will be held at 10 am at Krishnampet near Ice House on Sunday, family members said.