K. Deivasigamani was a college teacher teaching history in Kumbakonam, Villupuram and Gudiyatham government colleges for 18 years before emerging as K. Ponmudy, a DMK strongman in Villupuram district and one of the powerful Ministers in the DMK Cabinets since 1989. In DMK circles and in the Dravidar Kazhagam, he had made his presence felt as a platform speaker, rechristening himself with a Tamil name: Ponmudy. Even in 1989, when he became the Minister for Health in the DMK government, which was elected to power after a gap of 13 years, he was known as K. Deivasigamani alias Ponmudy. Subsequently, he just retained the name Ponmudy.
“He was very active in the students’ wing of the DMK in Annamalai University in Chidambaram. After N. Natarajan, the husband of Sasikalaa, he became the secretary of the students’ unit,” said a close associate of Mr. Ponmudy. When late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi contested from the Saidapet Assembly constituency in the 1967 elections, Mr. Ponmudy visited the constituency and took active part in the campaign. The election proved to be the turning point in the political history of Tamil Nadu as the DMK was elected to power.
Born to school teacher parents in 1950 in T. Edayar in Villupuram district, Mr. Ponmudy was ideologically very close to the Dravidar Kazhagam and was a member of State vice-president of the Pakutharivarlar Kazhagam. The government rules at that time did not prevent anyone from becoming a member of Pakuthrivalar Kazhagam, though it was against joining a political party. His doctoral thesis is a comparative study of Black Movement in the U.S. and the Dravidian Movement in Tamil Nadu.
