M. Arunachalam

M. Arunachalam Biography

M. Arunachalam was a well-known politician from Tamil Nadu. A 6-time parliamentarian, he got elected to Lok Sabha in 1977, 1980, 1984, 1989 and 1991 elections as an Indian national congress candidate and finally in 1996 as Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) candidate. He got elected from Tenkasi constituency multiple times. He had a humble beginning in politics, fighting against odds to reach a prominent position in politics, where he truly deserved. He passed away in 2004, and he was fully active in politics till his death.

M. Arunachalam was born on 4 March 1944 in Vellanaikottai – a beautiful village, in the district of Tirunelveli. Moockiah and Muthammal were his parents. He is the second son of a family of six children. He married Amala Arunachalam in 1974 and the couple had four children. Since childhood he faced some of the social evils like untouchability, race discrimination etc, and took decision to fight against all odds. He also suffered several humiliations during his life as a student. His father was an agriculturist, and he enjoyed nature beauty and green paddy fields, a time when electricity was not available in his village.

His schooling was done at Pulliangudi and Vasudevanallur, and he walked 2-4 kms every day to reach school. Later he completed his graduation, master’s degree and also an LLB degree. He started his career as a junior advocate under T.S. Ramanatha Iyer, before he began his active political journey. He entered politics and reached new heights till national level politics at a young age. Throughout his political journey he remained loyal to Congress and the Gandhian moral and political ideology. However he contested and won as a Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) candidate in 1996 election, his final one.

Published: September 01, 2018

Updated: September 01, 2018