N. V. N. Somu

Natarajan Somasundaram (11 May 1937 – 14 November 1997), popularly known as N. V. N. Somu, was a politician, journalist, lawyer, and trade unionist from Tamil Nadu, India. He was a veteran of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Somu served as a councillor in the Madras Corporation (1968–73), Deputy Mayor of Madras (1971–72) Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Park Town (1980–84), and Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Chennai North (1984–89; 1996–97). In his second tenure as MP, he also served as Minister of State for Defence under two successive Prime Ministers - H. D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral. The later tenure was cut short by his death in a helicopter crash, when he was on an official tour of Arunachal Pradesh in November 1997.

Somu's daughter Kanimozhi NVN Somu is also a DMK MP, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha since 2021.

Early life He was born to a Mudaliar family on 11 May 1937 in Gnayiru (a suburb in present-day Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu) to Dravidian movement veterans Bhuvaneshwari and N. V. Natarajan. In late 1938, at 18 months, Somu accompanied his mother to Vellore Central Prison, owing to the latter's participation in the Anti-Hindi agitation launched by 'Periyar' E. V. Ramasamy, then leader of the Justice Party and the Self-Respect Movement a Tamil weekly published by his father.

He also headed the DMK's legal wing for several years.

On 29 November 1971, he defeated M. Bhaktavatsalam [of the Indian National Congress (O)] by 32 votes to become Deputy to Mayor Kamakshi Jayaraman. He remained in that position till 1972.

Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (1980-84) He was elected as Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Park Town constituency in 1980.

Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) (1984-89; 1996-97) He was elected as a Member of the Indian Parliament (MP) from Chennai North Lok Sabha constituency twice - in 1984 and 1996.

Union Minister of State for Defence (1996-97) Soon after being elected from the Chennai North constituency in 1996, Somu took oath as Union Minister of State (Defence) in the ministry under Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda on 6 July 1996. After Deve Gowda's resignation in April 1997, Somu was sworn in to the same portfolio in the succeeding ministry under Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral. In both these tenures, Somu was ministerial junior to Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Death

Background On 13 November 1997, Somu toured Arunachal Pradesh's areas bordering China as part of a two-day official visit to the northeastern States. The next day (November 14), he was scheduled to address the Indian Army's senior officials, including the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC) of the IV Corps at Tezpur, Assam.

The crash On November 14 morning, after a telephone conversation with his wife, Kanimozhi NVN Somu is a DMK MP in the Rajya Sabha, representing Tamil Nadu since September 2021.