Seven-time MLA A.S. Ponnammal, fondly known as ' Akka ' (elder sister) in political circles and among colleagues in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, died on Tuesday. She was 88, and is survived by four granddaughters.
The former Congress MLA from Nilakottai was only 24 when she was first elected on a Congress ticket from Cholavandan, which was then a double-member constituency.
The name Nilakkottai became part of her identity as she represented the reserved Assembly constituency five times even though she lost the seat in the 1967 and the 1971 elections. She was continuously elected to the Assembly till 1996 though she changed her constituency once and switched her political allegiance.
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A member of the Assembly when both K. Kamaraj and K. Bhaktavatsalam were the Chief Ministers of the Tamil Nadu, the DMK members had made fun of her during the time the State faced a severe food crisis. They would jocularly ask, "
“She is a very pleasant person and articulated well the requirements of her constituency in the Assembly,” said former Congress Leader in the Assembly S.R. Balasubramoniyam.
A friend of Congressman-turned-Tamil Nationalist Pazha Nedumaran, Ponnammal joined Tamil Nadu Kamaraj Congress when he launched the party.
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“The party aligned with the AIADMK led by MGR. She along with Nedumaran and K. Paramalai were elected to the Assembly in the 1980 election. She won the Nilakottai (reserved) constituency in the election,” said Mr S.R. Balasubramoniyan.
In the 1984 elections, she was elected from the Palani (reserved) constituency. In 1989 and 1991 she once again represented Nilakottai constituency.
When late G.K. Moopanar launched the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), she became part of it and was once again allotted the Nilakottai constituency and she won the seat. She quit the TMC and joined the Congress Jananayaga Peravai founded by P. Chidambaram as she could not get a seat in the 2001 elections. Subsequently, she was not active in politics.