MLA Kanagaraj dies, one more Assembly seat now vacant

With his demise, the number of vacant Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu has gone up to 22. The Election Commission has announced polls for only 18 seats so far citing pending court cases.

Kanagaraj was elected for the first time from Sulur assembly constituency in 2016. He defeated Congress candidate VMC Manoharan by a margin of 36,631 votes. The MLA was reading a newspaper when he suffered an attack and collapsed at his residence in Kamanaickenpalayam at 8.40 am. His family immediately contacted doctors who declared the MLA dead. His body was shifted to his farmhouse in V Vadugapalayam for public mourning. Kanagaraj is survived by his wife Rathinam, son Shanmugasundaram and daughter Bama Vijaya.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Deputy Speaker Pollachi Jayaraman and other party functionaries paid homage to the leader at his residence.

Speaking to the media, the CM termed the demise of Kanagaraj as a big loss for the party and the people. “He had earned the goodwill of AIADMK leaders MGR and Jayalalithaa because of his fierce loyalty to them. He grew from a grass root cadre to greater heights in the AIADMK. He always strived to implement schemes needed for people,” Palaniswami added.