Ganeshamurthy re-nominated for Erode Lok Sabha seat

ERODE: The 72-year-old A. Ganeshamurthy, re-nominated by his party the MDMK, contesting the April 18 Lok Sabha polls as part of the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu, for the Erode seat is a veteran of the Dravidian movement, a son of the soil and a popular figure locally for taking up issues concerning Erode district.

Born in 1947 in a small village near the famed handloom centre of Chennimalai in Erode district to the couple Avinashi Goundar and Saradambal, Ganeshamurthy hails from a typical agriculturist's family in the western belt and is a lawyer by training.

Father of two children, daughter Tamizhpriya and son Kabilan, his wife Ms Balamani unfortunately predeceased him.

Drawn towards the DMK even during his school days, Ganeshamurthy was the joint organiser of the DMK's state students' wing, as early as 1978.

In 1984, he was made the Erode district secretary of the DMK. He then threw his lot with the MDMK led by Vaiko after the parent party split in the early 1990s'.
Prior to that, he was elected on DMK ticket from Modakuruchchi Assembly segment in 1989.

Elected to the Lok Sabha twice on MDMK ticket, first from Palani in 1998 and then from Erode Parliamentary constituency in 2009, Ganeshamurthy had participated in various party agitations and had gone to prison.

He had initiated several development projects for Erode when he was MP, say informed sources here.

As one who had earned the respect of the people of his home district due to his aptitude for social work, political observers here say his chances of getting re-elected to LS from Erode this time are high, given the strength of the DMK-Congress led alliance and his own popularity as a local candidate of MDMK.  

Though in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Ganeshamurthy lost the Erode seat to the AIADMK, he came a close second as an MDMK candidate, observers point
out.