This story is from April 30, 2021

Chennai: Former AIADMK minister C Aranganayagam dies aged 90

Former AIADMK minister C Aranganayagam, 90, passed away due to age related illness at a private hospital in Chennai on Thursday.
Chennai: Former AIADMK minister C Aranganayagam dies aged 90
Former AIADMK minister C Aranganayagam
CHENNAI: Former AIADMK minister C Aranganayagam, 90, passed away due to age-related illness at a private hospital in Chennai on Thursday.
Aranganayagam, was a minister in AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran as well as late chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s cabinet. He was one among the AIADMK leaders who strongly backed Jayalalithaa during 1989 when the party split into two factions.
He was a four time MLA, winning twice from Thondamuthur( 1984 and 1991) and twice from Coimbatore south (1977 and 1980).
He had quit AIADMK and joined DMK in 2006 only to return to parent party after a shortwhile. However, he maintained a low profile in AIADMK after he rejoined.
Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam offered their condolences to the family members. Arangayagam is survived by his wife and two sons.
``He was among the few leaders who could meet MGR and Jayalalithaa to discuss party affairs’’ a joint statement issued by the two said recalling that Arangayagam held various party posts including headquarters secretary during his long association with the party.
Aranganayagam was influenced by Dravidian ideologies and was drawn towards MGR when he founded AIADMK. Though he was not actively involved in party work, because of his work as a school teacher, he had close ties with AIADMK leaders in the late 1960s. He had studied law too.

In 1977 when the candidate selection for the party was going on, several AIADMk functionaries suggested that gounder or chettiar candidates be fielded in Coimbatore. But it came as a surprise for party leaders when MGR handpicked Aranganayagam, a Nadar to be fielded in Coimbatore west segment.
``He was among the first MLAs for AIADMK. So MGR was fond of him,’’ said AIADMK spokesman Kovai Selvaraj who recalls campaigning for Aranganayagam as a youth. That was the reason MGR made Arangayagam the education minister in his cabinet. Though not a great orator, Aranganayagam was good at administration and played a crucial role in improving the school enrolment ratio, especially in higher secondary education in the 70s.
Later, he won the attention of Jayalalithaa too and remained equally close to her. ``When the party split into two factions in 1989, Aranganayagam solidly backed Jayalalithaa,’’ says Selvaraj. In her first tenure, Jayalalithaa made him the education minister again.
However, he was slapped with disproportionate assets case soon after DMK won in 1996 and a special court had sentenced him to three years rirgourous imprisonment in 2017. The sentence was eventually suspended by the high court and he went for an appeal against the jail term which is still pending.
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