Fondly called as Madhu Annan by AIADMK cadre, the 80-year-old veteran has been unwell fighting diabetes and geriatric complaints. The hardcore loyalist of MGR is a strong critic of the DMK’s first family.

Former minister Madhusudhanan is a long-term AIADMK worker with his roots dating back to the days of party founder MG Ramachandran. Madhusudhanan, a north Chennai strongman, was instrumental in strengthening the party in the state capital and played key role in the victory of several AIADMK MLAs in the north and central Chennai seats.

In 2017, Madhusudhanan contested from the RK Nagar bypoll and lost to the AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran by a huge margin.

When the dispute over the Two Leaves symbol broke out between AIADMK and AMMK, a petition to the Election Commission was submitted by party presidium chairman Madhusudhanan and the poll panel permitted the group led by him to use the Two Leaves symbol.