H Vasanthakumar 1950-2020: Retail, media or politics, his work was always for the people

Born in Agastheeswaram in Kanniyakumari on April 14, 1950, Vasanthakumar began as a salesperson as a young man in his 20s. He worked under VG Panneerdas, founder of VGP group, during which he honed his business skills. It is in the same company that Vasanthakumar learnt the effect of the instalment schemes for household articles. Then came the idea to launch a consumer electronics retail shop. The eponymous Vasanth and Co opened its first branch in 1978, and the retail chain grew by leaps and bounds over the years to emerge as one the biggest in the country, with showrooms spread across almost every city and town in Tamil Nadu. It also has branches in neighbouring Puducherry, Kerala and Karnataka.

Vasanthkumar was marketing mascot of the chain, with his smiling visage adorning all advertisements and showrooms. Though business was his primary vocation, Vasanthakumar was also interested in politics - not surprising as he hailed from a Congress family and was the brother of senior Congress leader Kumari Ananthan. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Sounderarajan, the former State president of BJP, is his niece.

He contested and won to the State Assembly from Nanguneri in 2006. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he lost to BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan at Kanniyakumari. But to his credit, he came second in a tight, four-corner contest that the Congress fought alone, bagging more votes than the two Dravidian majors.

Incidentally, Kanniyakumari was the only constituency in Tamil Nadu where party president Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally.

In 2016, he won again from Nanguneri Assembly constituency. However, in the 2019 general election, the party fielded him knowing well that it had no better candidate who could ensure victory – even if that would mean one less party MLA in the State Assembly. The calculation proved right, and Vasanthakumar won by a massive margin of more than two lakh votes.

“He was a great person who did not hold any political grudges. He defeated me in the recent Lok Sabha polls but we always shared a common friendship. His death is a huge loss to the Congress,” said Pon Radhakrishnan in his condolence message.

He also dabbled in media business, launching the satellite television channel Vasanth TV of which he was the managing director.

The death of Vasanthakumar, who was among the very few businessman-politicians in the State who left an indelible mark in both the fields that he chose to indulge, is a huge setback for the Congress, as it came at a time when there are only few months left for the next Assembly polls.

He is the second elected representative in Tamil Nadu to die due to COVID 19 after DMK’s J Anbhazhagan MLA.