The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Educationist and former ministers’ kin line up against Jayalalithaa
A LEADING educationist is the Vijayakanthvaiko front’s candidate against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in R K Nagar, joining a line-up that includes the son-in-law of a former minister and the daughter-in-law of another. At least three of the candidates are also women’s activists.
Vasanthi Devi, former vice-chancellor of Manonamaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli, is remembered for reforms she ushered in during that tenure as well as for her activism, having led a college teachers’ strike in 1987 and courted arrest. She is contesting on a ticket from the Dalit party VCK, part of the Vaiko-led PWF that has allied with Vijayakanth’s party.
Other women’s activists challenging Jayalalithaa are PMK women’s wing secretary P Agnes and DMK women’s wing propaganda secretary Shimla Muthuchozhan, who is the daughter-in-law of former minister S P Sargunapandian. The BJP candidate is M N Raja, son-in-law of former AIADMK minister Aranganayakam.
Apart from being a former VC of the Tirunelveli university, Vasanthi Devi has also served as chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Women’s Commission and been a member of the state planning board. As a teacher, she was a leader in the Government College Educationist, VCK Women’s wing leader, DMK BJP Teachers’ Association. She did her research in history from Manila.
“She is the finest educationists who also fought for women’s issues and their rights. All through her life, she has been working for the people. By fielding Devi, we have taken a political decision for change,” said VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan. There had been some speculation that Thirumavalavan would contest R K Nagar; he announced his seat as Kattumannarkoil in Cuddalore.
Devi is a granddaughter of Sakkarai Chettiar, a Christian evangelist who, in the 1920s, had been at the forefront of the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills strike in then Madras against the managing company, Binny & Co. His response to a Binny suit claiming Rs 5,000 damages is part of folklore. “I get Rs 5 from my church and I have only one set of clothes. If you insist that I pay the fine, I will take off my clothes before the honourable court and leave in my loincloth,” Sakkarai had told the court.
Devi’s father P V Das served as Dindigul municipal chairman while her uncle C Subramanian is a former Union minister, the man behind the Green Revolution.
The DMK’S Shimla Muthuchozhan, 35, is the daughter-in-law of former party minister S P Sarguna Pandian. She has won a ticket that the Congress had been eyeing — it had wanted to field actor-politician Khushboo — but senior alliance partner DMK eventually decided to contest R K Nagar itself.