Former Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister and AIADMK leader P.V. Damodaran, 76, died at a private hospital in Coimbatore on Tuesday afternoon.
According to sources, Damodaran had been ailing for some time.
2003 to 2006
He was elected from the Pongalur Assembly constituency in 2001 and served as a Minister from 2003 to 2006 in the Jayalalithaa Cabinet. In the 2006 election, he lost the seat to DMK’s Mani by fewer than 50 votes.
AIADMK sources said Damodaran was a founding member of the party and was among those who had left the DMK when actor-politician M.G. Ramachandran founded the party after being expelled from the DMK.
For his loyalty and dedication, Jayalalithaa had felicitated him at a function organised in Tirunelveli to celebrate the party’s 25th year. In addition to giving him a Cabinet post, Jayalalithaa had also rewarded Damodaran with the party’s Coimbatore rural district secretaryship.
Election work
The sources said Damodaran had also served as the chairman of the Coimbatore District Milk Producers’ Federation (Aavin). A few years ago, the party had also given him the responsibility of coordinating the election work in Coimbatore.
In a statement, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, co-coordinator of the AIADMK and Chief Minister, and O. Panneerselvam, coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister, condoled his death.
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