P. K. Mookkayya Devar was an Indian politician.
Contents |
He was born to Kattamuthu ocha thevar and Sevenamal on 4 April 1923 in Pappapatti village, near Usilampatti, Madurai district, India. He had participated in many social activities as a student leader. Later he formed Kallar association and took several steps to the upliftment of Piramalai Kallar, a major sub-sect of thevar community in southern Tamil Nadu.
Later, he joined Forward Bloc, an Indian National Political Party, formed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, under the guidance of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar.
He ran for office in Periakulam Assembly constituency in 1952-1957 as a forward Bloc candidate and was elected. He also served as a member of legislative assembly in usilampatti for four terms( 1957–1962, 1962–1967, 1967–1971, 1971, 1977–1979 ) till his death.
He also holds a record of winning in both assembly & parliament elections simultaneously in the year 1971. Earlier this record was also made by U.Muthuramalinga thevar in the year 1957. This record is unbeatable till date in the political history of Tamil Nadu.
Being the senior most member of the assembly, he served as the Proterm speaker in Tamil Nadu assembly in the years 1967 & 1977
He also served as Member of ParliamentRamanathapuram district (1971 to 1977)
In 1963, he was elected as Vice President of All India Forward Bloc after the death of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Devar. In 1971, he was elected as the President of All India Forward Bloc.
In 1974 he made a famous speech on kachhatheevu in the parliament . He strongly opposed this agreement of handing over kachhatheevu to the srilankan government. He also filed a "white paper" on this issue.
He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Usilampatti constituency as an Independent candidate in 1957 election, and as a Forward Bloc candidate in 1962, 1967, 1971 and 1977 elections.[1][2][3][4][5]
He was the founder of three Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar Colleges at Usilampatti, neelithinallur, kamuthi. He worked hard for the upliftment of the downtrodden people. In his colleges he offered free education, free boarding & lodging to the poor students irrespective of their castes. He established the statue of pasumpon Muthuramalinga thevar,his political guru in Madurai,which was unveiled by V.V.Giri,the then President of India in 1971 . He called as Urangapuli (The Tiger that doesn't sleep)
He died on 6.9.1979 and laid to rest in the premises of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga thevar College at Usilampatti. His statue was established in arasaradi, Madurai, which was unveiled by B.B.Mandal,the then co-operative minister of west bengal in 1990.