V. Balasundaram

Vai. Balasundaram (1942 – 6 December 2019)[1] was an Indian politician who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was Mayor of Chennai for the year 1969–70, and was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from Acharapakkam constituency in 1971 election.[2]

He was later described as a "veteran Dalit leader", and became President of the Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam (Ambedkar People's movement),[3][4] a political movement in Tamil Nadu working for the upliftment of Dalits.

Dr. Vai.Balasundaram entered in to the public life for the uplifitment of the dalit communities at the age of 20, became Mayor of Madras in 1969 and MLA of Tamil Nadu in 1971. After the 1975 emergency, Dr Balasundaram left his Dravidian party and realized his own autonomous space within the struggles of the Dalit community and formed "Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam" aka "Ambedkar People Movement' in 1977.After his demise Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam is led by Vai.Ramalingam as the President of the party and Ilamurugu Muthu is the executive President of the party and Siva Murugesan is the General Secretary of the party .Vai.Ba was instrumental in successful implementation of Nagarpalika in Tamil nadu with reservation to women and SC/STs and also played a key role in installation of numerous Ambedkar statues across the state. Balasundaram’s outreach across political spectrum was seen when Ministers of Government of Tamil Nadu, Leader of Opposition of Tamil Nadu Legistative Assembly, political leaders, and icons of dalit movements of the state paid homage to the vetaran leader at his home

References
  1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/ex-mayor-passes-away/article30233835.ece
  2. 1971 Tamil Nadu Election Results, Election Commission of India
  3. Muthurasa Kumar (8 April 2018). "How a Dalit Woman Used Education to Empower Herself and Those Around Her". The Wire. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  4. "Demonstration seeking judicial probe". The Hindu. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
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