Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister EVKS Elangovan passed away at a private hospital in the city on Saturday morning. He was 75 and is survived by his wife and a son.

He was under treatment for about a month for lung infection and the end came at around 10 am.

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Elected in the February 2023 bypoll, he represented the Erode East constituency in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The bypoll itself was necessitated due to the death of his son, Thirumagan Evera.

Hailing from a family with a political legacy, he is the grandson of Dravidian icon Periyar EV Ramasamy’s brother. His father, EVK Sampath who travelled in the Dravidian movement fell out with DMK founder Annadurai and launched the Tamil Nationalist Party before joining the Congress.

With politics running in his veins, Elangovan took the political plunge at an early age. Though his mother, Sulochana Sampath, was with the AIADMK holding important positions, he remained with the Congress and was elected to the Assembly in 1984.

On getting elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004, he served as the Minister for Textiles in the Manmohan Singh Government. Prior to that, he was the TNCC president.

Known for his acerbic tongue, he claimed that late AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s original name was ‘Komalavalli Ammu’ to counter her tirade against Sonia Gandhi in the election campaign.

Chief Minister MK Stalin led the state in condoling the death of the Congress leader. A few days ago, he visited Elangovan at the hospital.

“The demise of Elangovan is a personal loss as well as political. His contribution in public life would be remembered by posterity,” the Chief Minister said in a condolence message.

TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, MDMK chief Vaiko, PMK founder S Ramadoss have condoled Elangovan’s passing away and recalled his public service.

The body kept in state at his residence in suburban Manapakkam, will be brought to the TNCC headquarters, Sathyamurthi Bhavan, tomorrow (Sunday) for the public to pay homage before the cremation.