Tamil politicians

Jayalalithaa

This former heroine ruled Tamil cinema for a long time. Much in demand for her histrionics, Jaylalithaa starred opposite Sivaji Ganesan and M G Ramachandran in many films.

One of the first Tamil heroines who appeared in skirts on screen, her political initiation happened when M G Ramachandran founded the ADMK and invited her to join the party. Initially she was a member of the committee formed to oversee the mid-day meal scheme in schools. Soon, she was made a Rajya Sabha member and later, propaganda secretary of the party. On MGR?s death in 1987, his wife Janaki became the chief minister. Claiming she was MGR's true heir, Jayalalithaa split the party. In the ensuing Assembly elections, her faction won 23 seats, while Janaki's faction won just one seat. Janaki soon retired from public life, leaving Jayalalitha the undisputed leader of the AIADMK.

In the 1991 elections, the AIADMK entered into a pact with the Congress and riding on the sympathy wave for Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated by the LTTE, the AIADMK came to power. When the BJP formed government in 1998, Jayalalithaa initially supported the party but later withdrew. However, after she returned to power in Tamil Nadu in 2001, she mended ways with the BJP and was a part of the NDA coalition. At the moment, she is a part of the Third Front. Presently she accepted need of seperate Tamil Eelam.

Karunanidi

Karunanidhi Muthuvel is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is one of the founder members of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He is also the head of DMK from the death of C.N. Annadurai in 1969 till date. He has been the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five times (1969-71, 1971-74, 1989-91, 1996-2001 and 2006-date).

He holds the record of winning every election that he fought in his political career spanning over 60 years. He led the UPA in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry to win all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections.

He was born in an Isai Vellalar caste as Dakshinamurthy to Thiru Muthuvelar and Thirumathi Anjugam Ammaiyar on June 3, 1924 at Thirukkuvalai in the Tanjore District, (now Tiruvarur) [Tamil Nadu], India. His mother was a temple dancer. Coming from a humble and poor family the clan of Karunanidhi have made it to the top of Tamilnadu politics.

He took Over as Chief Minister 13 May 2006 after his coalition defeated his main opponent J. Jayalalithaa in the May 2006 elections. He currently represents the constituency of Chepauk in Central Chennai in the Tamil Nadu state Legislative Assembly. He has been elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for 11 times and once to the now abolished Tamil Nadu Legislative Council.

Karunanidhi began his career as a scriptwriter in the Tamil film industry.He is known for his wit and oratorical skills, qualities which helped his rapid rise as a popular politician. He was famous for writing historical and social (reformist) stories which propagated the socialist and rationalist ideals of the Dravidian movement to which he belonged.

Karunanidhi entered politics at the age of 14 inspired listening to a speech by Alagiriswami of the Justice Party by whom he was greatly influenced in 1932 and participated in Anti-Hindi agitations. He founded an organisation for the local youth of his locality. He circulated a hand written newspaper called Manavar Nesan to its members. Later he founded a student organisation called Tamil Nadu Tamil Manavar Manram which was the first student wing of the Dravidan Movement. Karunanidhi involved himself and the student community in social work with other members he would visit the nearby hutments to do all that was possible within his limit. Here he started a newspaper for its members which grew into Murasoli newspaper which is the DMK party's official newspaper.

Karunanidhi has been arrested several times in long political career fighting for public causes this including against price increase, Anti-Hindi Agitation, for Eelam Tamils and other political activities.[citation needed]He has been arrested over 14 times. Even in jail he set up a shadow government, and allocated responsibilities to everyone of his cadres. During his periods in jail (he was incarcerated more than seven times between 1953 and 1965), Karunanidhi read and wrote extensively in prison. Karunanidhi led a struggle in a bid was instrumental in the Kallakudi struggle to rename Dalmiapuram railway Station. Karunanidhi was entrusted with the task of organizing the struggle. The cadres were divided into three batches, and Karunanidhi led the batch which lay down on the railway station, blocking the train by putting his head on the rail and made powerful slogan \"udal mannukku, uyir tamilukku\" (Body to soil and Life to Tamil\") that attracted many to join him. They were promptly arrested, the second group also met the same fate. When the third group lead by Kannadasan took its turn chaos broke, the police resorted to firing leading to the death of two. Karunanidhi was lodged in Thiruchirapalli Central Jail.

Karunanidhi was first elected to the Tamil Nadu assembly in 1957 from the Kulithalai assembly constituency in the Thiruchirapalli district. He became the DMK treasurer in 1961 and deputy leader of opposition in 1962 and when the DMK came to power in 1967, he became the minister for public works. When Annadurai died in 1969. Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister. He has held various positions in the Tamil political scene.

Vaiko

V. Gopalsamy also known as Vaiko, is a prominent politician in Tamil Nadu, in south India. He was born in Kallingappatti, Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu in 1944. He is the founder of the MDMK, a political party that espouses the cause of the Tamil people and Tamil nationalism. He is known to be a supporter of the LTTE which is banned as a terrorist organisation in 31 countries including India.as a result he was arrested under the POTA in 2002 and once-again on 23 October 2008 for sedition.He belongs to telugu speaking Kamma caste (Kammavar Naidu).But because the whole south India was clubbed as one region for centuries there were lots of migration from one region to another.His ancestors migrated from Coimbatore to Thirunelveli.

Vaiko was formerly seen as the ideological protege of DMK co-founder and present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. He formed the MDMK in 1993 after he was expelled from the DMK because of his popularity in the party thereby threatening Karunanidhi's son Stalin's position.

He is well-known for his unequivocal support for the banned LTTE and other organizations fighting for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka. In 2002, he was arrested by the Government of Tamil Nadu for making a speech supporting the LTTE, under the controversial Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) and spent 18 months in prison. The Sri Lankan army commander Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka accused Vaiko of accepting bribes from the LTTE in return for supporting them? If the LTTE is wiped out, those political jokers like (Tamil Nationalist Movement leader) P Nedumaran, Vaiko and whoever who is sympathising with the LTTE will most probably lose their income from the LTTE ?

On March 1, 2009, Sri Lankan soldiers of Army 58 Division, discovered photographs of several South Indian politicians involved in LTTE activities including that of Mr. Gopalsamy, in a building captured from the LTTE. In some of the pictures he had been photographed in LTTE uniform, firing pistols with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. The Srilankan army and the Srilankan govt made jokers of themselves by releasing the Photographs as clinching evidence of Mr. Vaiko's clandestine activities with LTTE, since, the same photos were circulated in Tamil Nadu way back in the 1990s itself.

In the following election in 2004, the MDMK split from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance that it was part of since 1999, and joined a coalition led by the Indian National Congress. After an emphatic win in the polls, and the subsequent repeal of POTA, Vaiko was released from prison. He contested the 2006 assembly elections with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by J. Jayalalitha. But AIADMK alliance lost in the 2006 Assembly elections and Vaiko's party could get only 6 seats.

Officials of the ?Q? Branch of the CID of the Tamil Nadu police arrested the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary on charges of sedition. The MDMK presidium chairman and former Union Minister, Kannappan, was also arrested along with Vaiko on the same charges. Both the party leaders were charged under Section 124 (A) IPC (\"Whoever brings or attempts to bring in hatred or contempt or excites disaffection towards the government\") and Section 13 (1) (b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (\"Whoever advocates, abets in, advises or incites the commission of any unlawful activity\"). The charges stemmed from speeches Vaiko made at a party meeting on the Sri Lankan issue and the government's raids into LTTE-held areas on October 21. He warned that Indian help to protect Sri Lanka?s integrity would jeopardise India?s own unity and integrity. He also added that he would be ready to take up arms and fight for the Tamils in Lanka. Kannappan, on the other hand, warned the Centre not to force Tamils in Tamil Nadu to struggle for a separate country. A general alert had been sounded across Tamil Nadu following the arrest. TN CM Karunanidhi said the law would take its course in this case, saying that whatever happened had occurred as per the letter and spirit of the law. Conversely, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa described both arrests as simple political vendetta. After 14 days in judicial custody Vaiko and Kannappan, arrested on charges of sedition on October 23, were released by a chennai city court following the Tamil Nadu Government's submission that investigations into the charges against them were complete and there was no need for a further remand.

He ran a blood donors club which is run by the MDMK party with the name 'Blood Donors' Club'. Till date, more than 80,000 units of blood has been donated to the poor people.He launched a 3 day 'Tank Desilting Program' in his Village, with the participation of villagers. Along with the villagers, he took clay soil in baskets and loaded it in tractors when the work began under the scorching sun. He has undergone a month long padayatra in Tamil Nadu, to establish communal harmony, to prevent caste clashes and to create awakening for the interlinking of inter state rivers in India. He has conducted free medical camps for physically challenged for years and has been instrumental in bringing a welcome change to their lives.

Vijayakanth

Vijayakanth (Tamil: விஜயகாந்த்) (born Vijayaraj Azhagarswami on August 25, 1952 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India) is a Tamil film actor and politician in Tamil Nadu, India. He is the founder of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam and a Member of Legislative Assembly representing Virudhachalam, Tamil Nadu, India.

Ramdoss
Dr. S. Ramdoss is the founder and president of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) Indian political party. Ramdoss had earlier worked intensively with the Vanniyar Sangham (Vanniyar Union).He fought for the Reservation for the Most backward community, and it was his initiative which created a new category MBC.

He is giving more importance for the Vanniar people. To improve them, he is currently building an University by Vanniar Trust at Koneri Kuppam near Tindivanam. Free coach is being given for the students who prepare for IAS and IPS courses. He is playing an important role in developing vanniar people and the same time nowadays they are allowing other people too.

After the formation of PMK, and under the leadership of Ramadoss, PMK was able to obtain a significant share of power both in the regional government in Tamil Nadu and the central government, primarily due to coalition pressures.Ramadoss's son, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, is the Health Minister in the Government of India.