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Chennai: DMK MLA from Senthamangalam constituency in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu, K. Ponnusamy died on Thursday after a brief illness. He was 74 years old.
A seasoned political figure known for his simplicity and strong grassroots presence, Ponnusamy was one of the senior DMK leaders in the western region of Tamil Nadu.
For decades, he played a key role in strengthening the party’s base in Namakkal district and was widely respected across party lines for his outreach and commitment to the welfare of the people.
In the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Ponnusamy scored a decisive victory for the DMK in Senthamangalam, defeating his AIADMK rival Chandran by a margin of 10,493 votes.
Ponnusamy received 90,681 votes (45.51 percent), while Chandran received 80,188 votes (40.25 percent). His victory contributed to DMK’s strong performance that year, helping Chief Minister MK Stalin bring the party back to power after a decade in opposition.
Earlier, in the 2016 assembly elections, Ponnusamy had contested from the same constituency but lost to the AIADMK candidate.
Undeterred by the defeat, he continued to work among farmers, youth and cooperative societies in his area and gradually strengthened the party’s presence in the Scheduled Tribe-reserved seat.
Senthamangalam constituency, number 93, was created after delimitation in 1957 and includes parts of Rasipuram and Namakkal taluks. It comes under Namakkal Lok Sabha constituency.
Political leaders from both the ruling and opposition parties expressed grief over Ponnusamy’s demise.
DMK members remembered him as a “dedicated and down-to-earth leader who never distanced himself from the people”, while his contemporaries in other parties described him as a man of integrity and service.
It may be recalled that recently, another sitting MLA, AIADMK’s TK Amulakandasamy (60), who was the MLA from Valparai constituency in Coimbatore district, also passed away after a prolonged illness.
Both Ponnusamy and Amulakandasamy were considered constituency-centric representatives who prioritized developmental initiatives and welfare-oriented governance.
Their demise within a few weeks of each other has come as a loss to both major Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, marking the end of an era of experienced, people-centric MLAs.
–IANS