Former MLA Kovai Thangam passes away; Tributes pour in at Valparai Govt. College

College students and professors paid a silent tribute to former MLA Kovai Thangam who passed away on Wednesday. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Government College in Valparai.


Coimbatore: Former MLA of Valparai constituency, 74-year old Kovai Thangam who was battling a brief illness passed away at a private hospital in Coimbatore in the early hours of Wednesday.

Students and professors of Valparai Government College observed a two-minute silence in memory of Kovai Thangam who was instrumental in the establishment of the college. Later, they paid floral tributes to his portrait at the college campus.



Kovai Thangam, a senior leader of the Congress and the Tamil Maanila Congress was a member of the Valparai Legislative Assembly in Coimbatore district in 2001 and 2006. Later, in 2011, he lost the same seat to Arumugam of the Communist Party of India by a margin of 3,000 votes.

Kovai Thangam, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly in 2006 pointed out that during the then DMK regime, industrialists living in Valparai Estate area were finding it painstaking to go to Pollachi and Coimbatore for their college education. He made a request to Kalaignar Karunanidhi and after his repeated demands, a Government college was constructed in Valparai. It is to be noted that Kovai Thangam, a two-time MLA from Valparai had implemented various welfare schemes for the estate workers there.



Kovai Thangam, who was the Vice-President of the Tamil Maanila Congress was part of the Tamil Maanila Congress' seat-sharing agreement negotiating team in the AIADMK alliance during the 2021 assembly elections. At that time, dissatisfied with the fact that he was not given a ticket to contest from Valparai constituency, Kovai Thangam announced that he would contest as an independent candidate in Valparai.

Later, he quit the Tamil Maanila Congress in March 2021, a month before the assembly elections and joined the DMK, led by the DMK President, M K Stalin. He fell ill a few days ago and was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore. He passed away at around 12.20 am on Wednesday, while undergoing treatment.

Both the public and various political personalities were seen paying homage to Kovai Thangam's mortal remains at his residence in Saibaba Colony before the last rites.

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