Chennai: Moopanar loyalist B S Gnanadesikan dies of illness at 71

CHENNAI: TMC vice-president and former MP B S Gnanadesikan, a staunch loyalist of Congress leader G K Moopanar, died at a private hospital in Chennai on Friday after prolonged illness. He was 71. Gnanadesikan was admitted to the hospital in November after being tested for Covid-19 and had recovered. He is survived by wife and two sons.
A two-time Rajya Sabha MP and former TNCC president, Gnanadesikan, an ardent follower of former chief minister K Kamaraj, was much liked and respected even in the opposition camps.Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said he was saddened by his demise. “Gnanadesikan was affable even to his opponents,” said the CM.
DMK president M K Stalin said he was saddened by the passing away of Gnanadesikan, a friend of his father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi. TMC leader G K Vasan said the demise was a huge loss to him and the party. The TMC flags will fly halfmast as a mark of respect.
A native of Vathalagundu in Dindigul district, Gnandesikan, the son of district judge B S Sivagurunathan, moved to Chennai for his law degree and went on to become legal cell chairman of the TNCC for close to ten years. He was among the senior Congress leaders, who stood by Moopanar when he opposed former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao’s decision to join hands with J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK and floated a new party, the Tamil Maanila Congress, in 1996, a month before the assembly election. The party romped home with a resounding win along with the DMK and Gnanadesikan was made TMC’s official spokesman.
“When there was a chance to nominate his son Vasan to the Upper House in 2001, Moopanar nominated Gnandesikan instead. He was recognised for his loyalty to the leadership,” said TNCC general secretary K Thanikachalam, a close associate of Gnanadesikan for five decades. The TMC merged with the Congress after Moopanar’s death. When Congress expelled Vasan and the latter revived the TMC in 2014, Gnanadesikan quit the post of TNCC president and threw his weight behind Vasan.