He was a member of M.G. Ramachandran’s cabinet and a dependable lieutenant to current Chief Minister Jayalalithaa before switching camps and becoming a close confidant of DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin.
K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran has had a long, successful political career spanning around four decades.
Mr. Ramachandran, who has a tattoo of the AIADMK flag on his right hand, has been with the DMK for over two decades now. This election, the 66-year-old leader will be contesting this 10th Assembly election from Aruppukottai. Of the seven elections he has won, six have been from the Sattur constituency alone, thereby earning him the title “Satturar” or “Sattur” Ramachandran.
Political debut
Mr. Ramachandran, who was an ardent fan of MGR joined the AIADMK when the legendary actor-politician floated it.
Then the president of the MGR Fan club of composite Ramanathapuram district (Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and Virudhunagar), Mr. Ramachandran was the natural choice to contest from Sattur in the 1977 elections, and at the young age of 28 years he became an MLA. In 1989, he won from Vilathikulam in neighbouring Tuticorin district and a couple of years later won again from Sattur on the Anna Puratchi Thalaivar Munnetra Kazhagam ticket.
Six years later, his victory streak came to an end as he lost to DMK candidate M. Vijaykumar. In 2001, however, he came back strongly, winning the election on the DMK ticket.
After his win in 2006, he was made a Minister.
How has he thrived in politics for so many years, and at the helm of affairs in the district under both the AIADMK and the DMK? Poll watchers say that it is down to his leadership skills and the ability to translate the thoughts of his political masters into deeds.
This time around, Mr. Ramachandran is taking on the former State Minister and sitting MLA Vaigai Selvam, who defeated him in 2011. “I know almost all the voters above 40 years of age in the constituency. I may not be so familiar with the younger voters,” the veteran leader says.
Electioneering, he says, has changed quite dramatically over the years. “Earlier, the common man had high respect for the politicians, and was apprehensive about questioning them. Now, people do not spare any politician and ask him or her a lot of questions,” he says, attributing it to increasing literacy levels and the reach of the media. “Now, people know that it is their right to question us. During a recent campaign, a youth came up to me saying I had promised to provide a volleyball facility at his village. I don’t remember making the promise, but yet I had to convince him that I would follow it up.”
