1st July 2016

- The Hindu

Former Sivakasi MP dead

Two-time MP of Sivakasi, V. Jayalakshmi, passed away in Tirupur on Friday. The 84-year-old represented the Sivakasi Lok Sabha seat as a Congress candidate in 1971 and 1977.

She was recommended as a candidate by C. Subramanian when Indira Gandhi wanted a woman MP for the party from Tamil Nadu. As daughter of veteran Congress leader S. Ramasamy Naidu, Jayalakshmi had seen many national leaders visiting her home as she grew up. She fought the first election as mother of four children. As MP, she survived an air crash in New Delhi.

According to former Virudhunagar MP B. Manicka Tagore, the body of Jayalakshmi was brought to her native place Sengamalanatchiarpuram near Sivakasi. Mr. Tagore said that the former MP was a fighter against child labour in the 1970s and was instrumental in starting rehabilitation schools for them. The funeral will take place on Saturday.