| K. Anbazhagan | |
| Birth Name: | Ramaiah |
| Birth Date: | 19 December 1922[1] |
| Birth Place: | Kattoor, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Tamil Nadu, India) |
| Death Place: | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Residence: | Anna Nagar, Chennai |
| Office: | 3rd General Secretary of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
| Term Start: | 17 May 1977 |
| Term End: | 7 March 2020 |
| 1Blankname: | Inaugural Holder |
| 1Namedata: | C. N. Annadurai |
| Predecessor: | V. R. Nedunchezhiyan |
| Successor: | Durai Murugan |
| Office1: | Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly |
| Deputy1: | Arcot N. Veeraswami |
| Term Start1: | May 16 2001 |
| Term End1: | 17 May 2006 |
| Predecessor1: | S. Balakrishnan |
| Successor1: | O. Panneerselvam |
| Office2: | Minister of Finance in the Government of Tamil Nadu |
| Term Start2: | 17 May 2006 |
| Term End2: | 15 May 2011 |
| Predecessor2: | C. Ponnaiyan |
| Successor2: | O. Panneerselvam |
| Office3: | Minister of Education |
| Term Start3: | 16 May 1996 |
| Term End3: | 15 May 2001 |
| Term Start4: | 27 January 1989 |
| Term End4: | 30 January 1991 |
| Office5: | Member of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly |
| Term Start5: | 14 May 2001 |
| Term End5: | 12 May 2006 |
| Constituency5: | Harbour |
| Term Start6: | 16 November 1984 |
| Term End6: | 26 January 1989 |
| Constituency6: | Park Town |
| Term Start7: | 30 June 1977 |
| Term End7: | 15 November 1984 |
| Constituency7: | Purasawalkam |
| Office8: | Minister for Health and Social Welfare |
| Term Start8: | 15 March 1971 |
| Term End8: | 31 January 1976 |
| Office9: | Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha |
| Term Start9: | 4 March 1967 |
| Term End9: | 15 March 1971 |
| Constituency9: | Tiruchengode |
| Office10: | Member of Legislative Council |
| Term Start10: | 1 April 1957 |
| Term End10: | 25 February 1967 |
| Office14: | Leader of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly House |
| Term Start14: | 17 May 2006 |
| Term End14: | 14 June 2011 |
| 1Blankname14: | CM |
| Term Start15: | 27 January 1989 |
| Term End15: | 30 January 1991 |
| Party: | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
| Otherparty: | Justice Party |
| Source: | https://loksabha.nic.in/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/1710.htm |
Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan (19 December 1922 – 7 March 2020) was an Indian politician. He was a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement[2] and was the General Secretary of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (DMK) for nine terms. He has held several cabinet ministerial portfolios in the Tamil Nadu government under M. Karunanidhi including Finance, Education and Health and Social Welfare. He was elected as a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on nine occasions. He was earlier elected to the Lok Sabha the lower house of India's Parliament from Tiruchengode and was also a member of the Madras Legislative Council. He served as the opposition leader of Tamil Nadu assembly from 2001 to 2006.[3] He was popularly referred to as Perasiriyar (Professor) as he was a lecturer in Tamil in Pachaiyappa's College before resigning to contest elections in 1957.[4]
Anbazhagan was born in Kattoor near Thiruvarur in Tanjore district (now Thiruvarur District) of Madras Presidency, British India on 19 December 1922 to M. Kalyanasundaranar and Swarnambal as Ramaiah. He changed his name to Anbazhagan and being influenced by the Pure Tamil Movement led by Tamil scholar Maraimalai Adigal. In 1942, he addressed a Justice Party meeting in Thiruvarur as a student after being requested by C. N. Annadurai and came into contact with M. Karunanidhi for the first time.[5] He received his Master of Arts in Tamil from Annamalai University and joined Pachaiyappa's College as a lecturer in Tamil in 1944.[6]
Anbazhagan resigned as a Lecturer at Pachaiyappa's College to contest elections and was elected from Egmore to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1957. He was a member of the Madras legislative council between 1962–1967 and a close confidant of the DMK founder C. N. Annadurai. He was a member of Lok Sabha between 1967 and 1971. In 1971, he served as Social Welfare minister of Tamil Nadu. He had given up his M.L.A. position, representing Park Town constituency, in 1984 putting forward the Tamil Eelam issue.[7] He was elected from Harbour constituency in 1996, 2001 and 2006.[8] He served as the opposition leader of Tamil Nadu assembly from 2001 to 2006.[9]
Anbazhagan lived with his wife Santhakumari in Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai.
In his later years, Anbazhagan was in poor health, which minimized his political activities and public appearances, with the last one being on his 97th birthday on 19 December 2019.[10] [11]
On 24 February 2020, his health deteriorated and became "extremely critical and unstable", and he was admitted at Apollo Hospital in Chennai for treatment.[12] He died there at 1:05 IST on 7 March 2020 due to complications of diabetes mellitus. The DMK declared a seven-day mourning after his death.[13] [14]
His grandson A. Vetriazhagan is the current MLA from Villivakkam constituency.[15]
Anbazhagan has sound knowledge of Tamil poetry.[16] [17] Some of his published works include:
| Year | Election | Party | PC Name | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Tamil Nadu Legislative Council | DMK | Tamil Nadu | ||
| 1962 | Tamil Nadu Legislative Council | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
| Elections | Constituency | Party | Result | Vote percentage | Opposition Candidate | Opposition Party | Opposition vote percentage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Purasawalkam | DMK | 56.13 | Bashyam Reddy | INC | 41.65 | ||||
| 1977 | Purasawalkam | DMK | 45.09 | T. S. Govindaswamy | JP | 24.16 | ||||
| 1980 | Purasawalkam | DMK | 52.35 | Valampuri John | AIADMK | 46.68 | ||||
| 1984 | Park Town | DMK | 50.89 | M. Jothi | Independent | 46.92 | ||||
| 1989 | Anna Nagar | DMK | 49.94 | V. Sukumar Babu | AIADMK(J) | 27.28 | ||||
| 1991 | Chepauk | DMK | 43.00 | Zeenath Sheriffdeen | INC | 50.62 | ||||
| 1996 | Harbour | DMK | 70.57 | Earnest Paul | INC | 16.19 | ||||
| 2001 | Harbour | DMK | 46.98 | D. Pandian | CPI | 46.33 | ||||
| 2006 | Harbour | DMK | 44.24 | H. Seema Basheer | MDMK | 43.55 | ||||
| 2011 | Villivakkam | DMK | 44.20 | J. C. D. Prabhakar | AIADMK | 52.44 |