When EVK Sampath hit the headlines in Tamil Nadu

Not for nothing was EVK Sampath (1926-1977), one of the founder members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), who later became a prominent Congress leader, called Sollin Selvar, or master of words. “The gifted Sampath enjoyed a special relationship with Anna (DMK founder and leader CN Annadurai). Seventeen years his junior, he was bright, a little extra principled and widely read.” This is how diplomat-turned-political writer R. Kannan began a chapter in his book The DMK Years.

In fact, Sampath at one stage considered the practice of conferring titles on politicians “vulgar”. He was quicker than many of his contemporaries in gaining a broader view of the world. Although Sampath was the first Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) to also represent the DMK, which had only two MPs in the House and was then running for secession, he was able to quickly become close to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In a sense, he was before Annadurai in realizing the futility of pushing for a demand for Dravida Nadu, a separate state, under India’s constitutional framework. Another thing was that he did not and could not become as successful as Annadurai or M. Karunanidhi. The centenary of Sampath’s birth falls on March 6, 2026.

Division in the Dravidar Kazhagam

At the time of the split in the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) in 1949, Sampath, the nephew of DK founder EV Ramasamy, threw in his lot with the rebels and went along with Annadurai who formed the DMK. Considered a promising face of the fledgling party, Sampath was appointed president of the district-level conference held at Madurai in June 1950. Mr. Kannan records that he also played roles in plays staged to raise funds for the party. He gained greater prominence when the party selected him to lead a demonstration against the education program launched by the Congress government led by C. Rajagopalachari in July 1953. Although he was arrested before the demonstrations began, he was jailed for three months in connection with the agitation.

In the DMK’s first election attempt in 1957, Sampath and R. Dharmalingam were elected from Namakkal and Tiruvannamalai respectively. His exposure to politics in Delhi is said to have caused changes in his outlook and attitude. As an MP, Sampath left for the former Soviet Union in September 1958. It was then that he decided that his party should reconsider its position on the demand for Dravida Nadu. According to Mr. Kannan, when Annadurai discussed the issue with his colleagues, he replied that he knew it from the beginning when EV Ramasamy suggested the idea (page 81, DMK Years). However, the DMK founder advised patience on Sampath’s part.

Sampath’s stock rose when Nehru wrote him a letter in August 1960 following the DMK’s plan to stage an agitation during President Rajendra Prasad’s visit to the state. In the letter, the Prime Minister reiterated his stand that his government would not back down from the assurances given on the language issue (imposition of Hindi-3-august-1960-ql5qz). Subsequently, the agitation plan was abandoned.

Five months later, Sampath, who had by then become chairman of the party presidium, quit the party post, according to a report in The Hindu on 25 January 1961. The differences had deepened when the party’s general council met in Vellore a few days earlier to resolve them. Sampath’s grouse was against the “dictatorial attitude” of the party’s top leadership. In his reply, Annadurai acknowledged that “some factions” had emerged in the party over the past two years following differences of opinion on the adoption of democratic methods in implementing its policies. In fact, the offer of resignation was made at a meeting of the party’s executive committee at Vellore on 21-22 January and was accepted then, according to another report of this newspaper dated 26 January 1961.

A month later, Sampath went on a fast that lasted for three days to “arrest the growing indiscipline of party members” and achieve unity among the rank and file of the party. He broke the fast on February 25 following Annadurai’s assurance that all efforts would be made to root out bad elements in the organization, The Hindu reported the next day. But the peace did not last long. On April 9, Sampath along with his supporters including poet Kannadasan, Chennai Mayor V. Munuswamy and the party’s Chennai District Secretary Manivannan decided to quit the DMK.

‘Dream’

The differences ranged from “organizational cleansing to political re-evaluation”. A few days later, at a public meeting in Coimbatore, Annadurai declared: “The doors of the DMK are open to all. Karunanidhi, in the first volume of his autobiography Nenjukku Needhi, recalls that Annadurai, in his detailed statement on 18 April, said that Sampat should remember his oft-repeated words that the differences were “merely ordinary and not ideological matters”. Sampath not only rejected his offer, but also called the DMK’s core demand of the time – Dravida Nadu – as “dreaming” and “surpassed”, reported The Hindu on 21 April 1961. Immediately after his exit from the DMK, Sampath founded the Tamil National Party before merging it with the Congress. All his subsequent attempts to re-enter the Lok Sabha ended in failure.

At the time of his death in February 1977, he was holding the post of Vice-President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC). One of his sons, EVKS Elangovan, served as TNCC chief for two terms and a member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. He also held the post of Foreign Minister in the first United Progressive Alliance government (2004-09).

Published – 23 Jan 2026 06:07 IST