Former Minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi passes away

Parithi, who was suffering from diabetes, complained of chest congestion early in the morning on Saturday. He was rushed to a corporate hospital, where doctors declared him ‘brought dead.’

Parithi, who entered the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly at the age of 25 representing Perambur, was known for his consecutive wins from Egmore constituency. 

A hardcore loyalist of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, Parithi was a strong Dalit face in the DMK till 2013. In his debut, Parithi defeated the influential late Dravidian leader Sathyavani Muthu in the 1984 elections in Perambur constituency. After a fall out with DMK leader M K Stalin, the former deputy speaker crossed over to the AIADMK. He lost the 2011 assembly polls to DMDK candidate K. Nallathambi. 

Post Rajiv Gandhi assassination, the DMK faced a near rout in 1991 assembly polls. Only Karunanidhi and Parithi from DMK managed to win in that election. The way Parithi took on the AIADMK, which had a massive strength in the House then, earned him a unique status in the ranks and files of DMK. Late Karunanidhi often referred Parithi as ‘Indrajit’ and ‘Veera Abhimanyu’ for his role as an opposition MLA.

The former DMK general secretary also served as deputy speaker in the 11th Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu between 1996-2001. He also served as the minister for Information and Publicity between 2006-2011 under the chief ministership of Karunanidhi. 

After joining the AIADMK, Jayalalithaa appointed Parithi as the chief executive committee member of the party and he toured Tamil Nadu targeting the DMK for promoting nepotism. Post Jaya’s death in 2016, Parithi sided with O Pannerselvam and later he was expelled on charges of anti-party activities. Parithi then joined the rebel AMMK faction led by TTV Dhinakaran and was serving as the AMMK organising secretary. Parithi had his schooling in Chennai and Egmore was his bastion.