S. D. Somasundaram

Who was S. D. Somasundaram?

Thiru S.D.Somasundaram, popularly known as S.D.S is a veteran political leader and administrator who served as a Cabinet Minister in the State Government. Hailing from a hamlet of Sendankadu near Pattukottai town from an agricultural family, Thiru Somasundaram was an active social worker and was associated with various social organizations. Thiru S.D.S did his engineering from Annamalai University. He was a great athlete, a football player during his college days, and marathon race winner representing Tamil Nadu. After his graduation, S.D.S worked as an assistant engineer in public works department.

Thiru S.D.S began his political career as an activist of the Dravida Kazhagam in 1947 and joined the DMK when the late C.N. Annadurai floated the party in 1949. He was first elected to parliament from the Thanjavur Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu in 1967 after defeating former president R. Venkataraman. He was re-elected from the same constituency in 1971 in DMK ticket and 1977 as AIADMK ticket.

In 1972, he was one of the first to leave the DMK along with M.G. Ramachandran and was considered by the AIADMK middle and lower-level workers as a simple man who mixed with them easily and had a fairly clean record as a politician. MGR took the activities of SDS very much close to his heart. He resigned his MP post in 1977 and was nominated to the now-defunct legislative council.