Dalit Ezhilmalai, who served as the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government during 1998-99 passed away at his residence on the outskirts of Chennai on Wednesday.
He was 74 and is survived by his wife, 3 daughters and a son. The last rites will happen on Wednesday evening. The Hindu, quoting his family sources reported that the death was sudden and he did not have any health conditions.
Dalit Ezhilmalai was born in Madurantakam near Chengalpattu on June 24, 1945. Between 1963 and 1987, he served at the Post & Telegraph Department. He went on deputation to the Indian Army for 5 years up to 1974. He participated in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War and was honoured with the Sainik Sewa Medal for his exemplary service in the Army. He held key positions in the National Federation of Postal Union and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Employees Association Co-ordination Committee, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. He launched the Dalit People’s Front in 1980.
He went on to join Paatali Makkal Katchi and served as General Secretary in the party. During the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, he was elected from the Chidambaram (reserved) constituency when the PMK was in alliance with AIADMK. He was inducted into Vajpayee’s government as Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare with Independent Charge. In 1999, he quit the PMK and joined AIADMK as the former denied him a ticket to contest from the same constituency.
He was again elected to the Lower House from the Tiruchi Lok Sabha constituency, a general constituency, during the by-elections in 2001 which quite rare in Tamil Nadu politics. Though he continued to be with the AIADMK, he had maintained a low profile.