Light goes out of lightning Suppu

B. Kolappan

CHENNAI, OCTOBER 29, 2011 15:44 IST

UPDATED: OCTOBER 30, 2011 01:20 IST

His barbs and penetrating comments would catch the ruling party off guard, former DMK Minister Duraimurugan recalled.

Former DMK MLA K. Suppu, who with his razor-sharp wit and brilliant oratory created ripples in Tamil Nadu politics, died here on Saturday. He was 70, and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

Suppu, along with DMK’s Duraimurugan and Rahman Khan formed a trio and they were known as Minnal, Idi, and Mazhai (Lightning, Thunder, and Rain). They made life difficult for M.G. Ramachandran, then Chief Minister. While Mr. Duraimurugan and Mr. Rahman Khan went on to serve as Ministers in the DMK government, political success proved elusive to a temperamental Suppu, who joined several parties, including the AIADMK, before returning to the DMK.

Suppu had his political roots in the student movement of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and became one of the youngest members to be elected to the Assembly. He won the Rajapalayam Assembly constituency in 1971 on the CPI ticket.

He defected to the DMK and was fielded as a DMK candidate in Villivakkam, predominantly a workers' constituency, in 1977. It was during this period that the meticulous reader with legal acumen and brilliant oratory found his true calling.

“He would study all the issues, especially the Bills in great depth, before participating in the debate in the Assembly. His barbs and penetrating comments would catch the ruling party off guard and very often MGR would rise from his seat to intervene,” recalled Mr. Duraimurugan. When the three were expelled from the Assembly session in April 1979, they made a tour across the State. The DMK even collected money from its cadres for listening to their speeches. “As a platform speaker he had few parallels. In Kalaignar Karunanidhi's words, he was a crab on the sands of a beach, entering into one hole and emerging from another. It is simply impossible to counter him,” Mr. Duraimurugan reminisced.

In the 1980 election too, he was fielded from Villivakkam but lost to the AIADMK candidate. In 1984, he joined the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

The next year, he was made a member of the Legislative Council and deputy general secretary in the AIADMK, but was expelled from the party a year later. In February 1988, he joined the Congress. Three years later, he was pitted against Mr. Karunanidhi from the Harbour Assembly constituency.

He later joined the Tamil Maanila Congress launched by G.K. Moopanar. He came back to the AIADMK in 2006 and was made advisor of the party's legislative party. He was again expelled in 2007 and crossed over to the DMK.

“Great loss”

“But for his waverings, he would have made a great leader and policy-maker,” Mr. Duraimurugan said. In his condolence message, DMK president M. Karunanidhi said Suppu's death was a great loss for the working class. “I have seen his work in the Assembly and even his rivals liked to listen to him.”

MDMK general secretary Vaiko said Suppu could not succeed in politics because he spoke his mind.