Veteran BJP leader and former Tamil Nadu unit president K N Lakshmanan passed away on Monday due to age-related problems. He breathed his last at his residence in Sevvaipettai in Salem. He was 92 years old.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi condoled the death of KN Lakshmanan and remembered his contributions in the anti-Emergency movement, along with expanding the party’s size in the state.
“Anguished by the demise of KN Lakshmanan Ji. He was at the forefront of serving the people of Tamil Nadu and expanding the BJP organisation there. His role in the anti-Emergency movement and participation in socio-cultural activities will always be remembered. Om Shanti,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also conveyed her condolences to the bereaved family members.
“Sorry to hear that KN Lakshmanan is no more. As President (3 terms) of BJP TamilNadu and also as Member of Legislative Assembly, he had served the people with great dedication. My condolences to his family, friends, and all party karyakarta on this loss,” Smt Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted.
Shri Lakshmanan was appointed as Tamil Nadu BJP president after the BJP was formed. He was the party’s State president from 1984 to 1989. Lakshmanan had represented the Mylapore constituency in the state assembly from 2001-06. From 2006, he served as a member of the BJP’s national general council.
Expressing his condolences, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit said, “He was a nice gentleman who spent his life time for the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu. His demise is an irreparable loss to the people of Tamil Nadu and particularly the BJP.”
DMK president M.K. Stalin said though Lakshmanan’s political ideology was opposite to the DMK’s, he was very fond of former DMK president, the late M. Karunanidhi. Shri Stalin also recalled that Lakshmanan was elected to the Mylapore Assembly constituency when the DMK was a constituent of the BJP-led NDA.
BJP president J. P. Nadda, Telengana Governor and former TN BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, national general secretary in-charge of Tamil Nadu Muralidhar Rao and T. R. Paarivendar, founder president, Indiya Jananayaka Katchi, too, expressed their condolences.
