Former Union Minister Janardhanan dies

Former Union Minister and senior AIADMK leader Kadambur M. R. Janardhanan passed away following age-related ailments at a private hospital in Thoothukudi on Saturday evening. He was 91.

Janardhanan had represented the Tirunelveli Lok Sabha constituency for four terms.

Born in Kadambur, a small hamlet near Kovilpatti in Thoothukudi district on October 22, 1929, Janardhanan did his graduation in science in Presidency College, Chennai. He was a farmer and was involved agro-based business.

Elected to the Lok Sabha from Tirunelveli constituency in 1984, 1989, 1991 and 1998, Janardhanan served as Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension with additional charge of Minister of State for Finance in the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee between 1998 and 1999.

After defeating DMK’s D.S.A. Sivaprakasam in 1984 and 1989, Janardhanan defeated DMK stalwart K. P. Kandasamy in 1991 in the general elections held following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He was denied ticket to contest from the same constituency in the 1996 elections in which the AIADMK was routed.

Again, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tirunelveli in 1998 when he defeated actor and DMK candidate R. Sarath Kumar, by a thin margin of 6,904 votes mainly due to infighting in the DMK.

Source: Read Full Article