Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister EVKS Elangovan died due to age-related ailments at a private hospital here on Saturday, the hospital said. He was 75. The legislator from Erode East constituency has not been keeping well for over a month. He was admitted to a hospital here on November 11.
Born in Gobichettipalayam on December 21, 1948, Erode Venkata Krishnasamy Sampath Elangovan served as Union Minister of state for Petroleum, later as MoS for Industries and Commerce and MoS for Textiles, he was instrumental in abolishing the CENVAT.
He was the grandnephew of Periyar Ramasamy. His father Sampath was associated with the Dravidian movement and later merged his faction with the Congress. His mother Sulochana Sampath served as AIADMK organising secretary. Elangovan was fondly called as "Tanmana Thalaivar" by the Tamil Nadu Congress workers.
He entered politics in the 1980s and was elected as MLA from Sathyamangalam constituency, Erode district, in 1984 while in alliance with the AIADMK. He unsuccessfully contested from Bhavanisagar Assembly constituency after joining actor Sivaji Ganesan-led political Party “Tamizaga Munnetra Munnani." Ganesan had then threw his weight behind the Janaki AIADMK faction. Following the merger of the AIADMK groups, Ganesan dissolved the political party and Elangovan rejoined the INC. After 2009, he contested in two parliament elections and was defeated at Erode and Theni.
