H. Vasanthakumar

Harikrishnan Nadar Vasanthakumar (14 April 195028 August 2020) was an Indian businessman and politician. He was the founder and chairman of Vasanth & Co, one of the largest retail home appliance chains in Tamil Nadu. He was also the founder and managing director of the Tamil satellite TV channel Vasanth TV. He was elected as the member of parliament to the 17th Lok Sabha from Kanyakumari constituency in the 2019 Indian general election. He was also elected as member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Nanguneri constituency in the 2006 and 2016 elections.

Early life Vasanthakumar was born in Agastheeswaram in the Kanniyakumari district to Harikrishnan Nadar and Thangammal on 14 April 1950. He completed his primary education from a Panchayat board school in Kanniyakumari, later obtaining his bachelor's and master's degrees in Tamil literature from Madurai Kamaraj University. His brother, Kumari Ananthan, was also a legislator from the Indian National Congress.

Vasanthakumar founded the Tamil satellite television network Vasanth TV in 2008.

Political career Vasanthakumar started his political career as a worker with the Indian National Congress political party taking up multiple local organizational roles. One of his campaign promises included the establishment of a Special economic zone with a hi-tech park in Nanguneri. He contested the election from Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 against Pon Radhakrishnan and lost the elections. In his second term as a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, he represented Nanguneri again in 2016. He served the constituency until 2019 when he went on to become the MP, as a member of the 17th Lok Sabha from the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency. He won this election, against the incumbent Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan, by winning with a margin of over 250,000 votes.

He was the working President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) from 2019 through his death in August 2020. Earlier, he had served as the Vice-President of the TNCC, and also as the Chairman of the TNCC Traders wing.

Death Vasanthakumar died of complications from COVID-19 at the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on 28 August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. He was admitted to the hospital on 10 August 2020, and was on ECMO and ventilator life support, prior to his death.

He is survived by his wife Tamil Selvi, two sons, and a daughter. His wife was also undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the time of his death.