Thamizhachi Thangapandian, also known as Sumathy, hails from Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. She is contesting for the second time in the Lok Sabha elections representing the DMK party in the Chennai South constituency.

A poet, writer, educationist and theatre person, Thamizhachi entered politics following the footsteps of her father late V Thangapandian, who was a minister in the DMK government under M Karunanidhi. She has a Ph.D. in English Literature and was educated at Thiagarajar College of Arts & Science, Madurai Kamarajar University, Madurai and University of Madras, Chennai.

In 2019, Thamizhachi contested from the Chennai South constituency and won the seat by securing 5,64,872 votes against her closest rival, the AIADMK candidate J Jayavardhan, who got 3,02,649 votes.
The DMK candidate got 50.28% of the votes polled and won by a margin of 23.34%

The incumbent MP is the elder sister of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu.

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Thamizhachi Thangapandian: Personal information

Online presence

Website: https://ithamizhachi.com/
Facebook: thamizhachith/
Instagram: instagram.com/__thamizhachi__
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/
Twitter: @ThamizhachiTh

Criminal cases — Nil

Assets and liabilities

Positions held

Member, The Board of Governors of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)

In the 17th Lok Sabha:

• Member, Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology (2019-2023)

[Source: https://sansad.in/ls]

Performance in Parliament

Thamizhachi Thangapandian has an attendance percentage of 79%, which is equal to the National Average and higher than the State average (74%). Of the 15 parliamentary sessions, she has a 100% attendance in one session (Special Session 2023) and 95% in two sessions (Winter Session 2019, Budget Session 2019).

She has participated in 63 debates, which is more than the national average of 46%. The debates included topics such as:

• Expediting the extension of MRTS from Vellacheri to St. Thomas Mount and complete it with immediate effect
• Need to reconsider language options for CUET- PG 2024
• The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023
• Choice of language option for users on government websites
• Need to replace the existing National Exit Test (NExT) 
• Withdrawal of Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
• Removal of additional toll plazas situated within 60 kms of one another and rationalization of the levy of Toll Tax.  

Thamizhachi Thangapandian had raised 292 questions in the Parliament in her first tenure. Some of these include:

• Railway Infrastructure Projects in Tamil Nadu
• Digital Connectivity of Rural Population
• Reservation for OBCs in Education and Employment
• Agriculture Budget
• Digital Mapping of Ancient Sites 
• Establishment of Port Security 
• National River Conservation Plan 
• Fixing Labels on Food Packages. 

The full list of the questions are available here.

Thamizhachi has raised important issues in Parliament pertaining to Tamil Nadu and the country. She had urged the government to expedite the extension of MRTS from Vellacheri to St. Thomas Mount and complete it with immediate effect. She was also vocal about the need to provide funds for construction of houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in Chennai Metropolitan Area under South Chennai parliamentary constituency.

The incumbent MP from Chennai South also introduced eight Private Member’s Bills as mentioned below:

• The Housing Facility for Destitute Senior Citizens, Widows and Orphan Children Bill, 2022 (Pending)
• The Prevention of Internet Shutdown Bill, 2022 (Pending)
• The Special Financial Assistance to the State of Tamil Nadu Bill, 2022 (Pending)
• The Breast Cancer Awareness Bill, 2022 (Pending)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Amendment of section 2, etc.)
• The Artists Welfare Bill, 2019
• The Financial Assistance to State Governments for Development of Slums and Jhuggi-Jhopri Areas Bill, 2019
• The Working Women (Basic Facilities and Welfare) Bill, 2019

Source: PRSIndia

MPLADS spending of Chennai South

Thamizhachi Thangapandian in the news

Thamizhachi Thangapandian was vocal in adopting a ‘fair process’ to redress the grievances of members of the reserved categories at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras. 

Outraged by the video of two women in Manipur being paraded naked by a mob and tortured, the DMK MP tweeted a poem Poo Nagam penned by her in Tamil, to capture the violence perpetrated against women. 

Read more: Lok Sabha 2024: Know your MP — Poonam Mahajan, Mumbai North Central

Thamizhachi started using her literary talents to portray in detail the life of women amidst the heat, aridness and the scanty rainfall in villages. Her Tamil poems/articles have been compiled and published as books — Enjottu Penn, Vanapechi, Pechcharavam Kettiliyo, Manjanathi, Sol thodum dhooram, Kaalamum Kavithaiym, Arukan and Island to Island (English).

Her book Island to Island in English is about Ernest Thalayasingham Macintyre, an English playwright of Sri Lankan Tamil origin settled in Australia. Incidentally, issues of Tamil Eelam, anti-nuclear movement and abolition of capital punishment too have received attention in her literary and artistic works.

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