V. R. Nedunchezhiyan

V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
File:V.R. Nedunchezhiyan.jpg Statue of V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
Acting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
In office 24 December 1987 – 7 January 1988
Governor	Sundar Lal Khurana
Political Party	Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Preceded by	M. G. Ramachandran
Succeeded by	V. N. Janaki Ramachandran
Constituency	Athoor
In office 3 February 1969 – 10 February 1969
Governor	Sardar Ujjal Singh
Political Party	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Preceded by	C. N. Annadurai
Succeeded by	M. Karunanidhi
Constituency	Triplicane
Minister of Finance, Tamil Nadu
In office 24 June 1991 – 12 May 1996
Chief Minister	J. Jayalalithaa
In office 9 June 1980 – 24 December 1987
Chief Minister	M. G. Ramachandran
In office 6 March 1967 – 31 January 1976
Chief Minister	C. N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi
General Secretary of the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office 25 December 1987 – 8 February 1989
Preceded by	M. G. Ramachandran
Succeeded by	J. Jayalalithaa
In office 23 June 1978 – 10 June 1980
Preceded by	M. G. Ramachandran
Succeeded by	P. U. Shanmugam
General Secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office 4 February 1969 – 1977
Preceded by	C. N. Annadurai
Succeeded by	K. Anbazhagan
In office 1956–1962
Preceded by	C. N. Annadurai
Succeeded by	C. N. Annadurai
3rd Leader of the Opposition in the Madras Legislative Assembly
In office 29 March 1962 – 28 February 1967
Chief Minister	K. Kamaraj M. Bhakthavatsalam
Preceded by	V. K. Ramaswami
Succeeded by	P. G. Karuthiruman
Constituency	Triplicane
Personal details
Born	Ra. Go. Narayanasamy 11 July 1920 Thirukannapuram, Madras Presidency, British India (present-day Tamil Nadu, India)
Died	12 January 2000(2000-01-12) (aged 79) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Cause of death	Heart failure
Political party	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1977-2000)
Other political affiliations	Dravidar Kazhagam (1944-1949) Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1949-1979) Makkal Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (own party;1977)
Spouse(s)	Visalakshi (m. 1950; d. 2016)
Children	1 son
Residence	Seethamma Colony, Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Signature

V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (11 July 1920 – 12 January 2000) was an Indian politician and writer. He served thrice as the acting Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He was also finance minister under the governments of C. N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa. For his literary contributions, he was also known as "Navalar" or the eloquent.

Life and career

Nedunchezhiyan was born at Thirukannapuram on 11 July 1920. He was graduated with a master's degree and a doctorate in Tamil literature from Annamalai University. He became involved in politics while at the university and joined the Dravidar Kazhagam party in 1944. In 1949, he and C. N. Annadurai formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), with the latter as leader and Nedunchezhiyan acting as deputy general secretary until 1955. He was general secretary between 1955 and 1961 and then chairman of the party's general council until 1969.

Nedunchezhiyan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu in 1962. In 1967, he became the Minister of Education when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam took power. He was briefly acting Chief Minister for the state following C. N. Annadurai's death in 1969, taking the role until M. Karunanidhi was appointed. He then continued as a cabinet minister in the Karunanidhi cabinet until the DMK lost power in 1976.

Together with K. Rajaram, Nedunchezhiyan left the DMK to form a new political party called the Makkal Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam but this did not last long. The party merged with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which was by then in government, in 1978 and from 1980 Nedunchezhiyan was again a cabinet minister, this time as a Minister of Finance under the leadership of AIADMK's M. G. Ramachandran, until 1987. He became acting Chief Minister in 1988 when Ramachandran died. He was a candidate in the subsequent leadership election but lost to Ramachandran's wife, V. N. Janaki name="hindu2000"/>

Nedunchezhiyan briefly aligned himself with the J. Jayalalithaa-led group within the AIADMK but was expelled from the party in 1988 after disputes with its leaders. He stood in the 1989 state elections and later that year returned to the party fold after Jayalalithaa had successfully reunified it. He served as Minister of Finance again between 1991 and 1996.

Legislative election history

Year	Result	Seat	Party
1962	Won	Triplicane	DMK
1967	Won	Triplicane	DMK
1971	Won	Triplicane	DMK
1977	Won	Triplicane	AIADMK
1980	Won	Thirunelveli	AIADMK
1984	Won	Athoor	AIADMK
1989	Lost	Mylapore	Independent
1991	Won	Theni	AIADMK
1996	Lost	Theni	AIADMK

Personal life

He married his wife, Visalakshi, in 1950, and they had one son.

He died on heart failure at Apollo Hospital on 12 January 2000.

In popular culture

The character Madhivanan, played by Rajesh, in the 1997 film Iruvar is loosely based on Nedunchezhiyan.

See also

• First Nedunchezhiyan ministry
• Second Nedunchezhiyan ministry

Books published

Name of the book with year of publication. Decimal Research (1943) The Late Dravidian (1948) Language Struggle (1948) Repository (1948) Tears and Red Water Development Corporation (1951) Rise Murasu New Path Veera tamilgam Ancient Greek (1953) Giordano Bruno (1953) Charles Bradley (1953) Religion and Superstition (1955) Purananooru Treasure (1961) DMK (1961) Brotherhood with Anna (1961) Heart great pleasure (1982) Thought Flowers (1982) Learning love scenes Narrinai katcigal (1982) Telling Taste (Short Views) (1985) Culture Honor (1985) Novel Announcements to the Novel Country (1988) Vadakkalathur Raja Gopalanar Biography (1991) Thirukkural - Novel Clarification (1991) Biography of #RevolutionaryBharatidasan (1994)

War of Social Justice (1996) History of the Dravidian Movement (Part I) (1996) Jain Commission Report - A Study (1997) What I Saw and Heard in Life (2000) After His- # Thirukkural Novel Text (Portable Edition) (2001)

References

• Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly