Kaduvetti Guru

Also known as Gurunathan,[3] Guru represented the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) party. This had been formed from the Vanniyar Sangam, a caste association of which Guru was president and which was known on occasion for its violent protests against people.[4][5]

After an unsuccessful attempt to win a seat in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1996,[6] Guru was elected as a PMK candidate from Andimadam constituency in the 2001 elections.[7] He lost the contest for the Jayankondam constituency in the 2006 elections[8] but won the seat in the 2011 elections.[9] His attempt to defend it in the 2016 elections resulted in him coming second to J. K. N. Ramajeyalingam of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.[10]

Comments by Guru against various Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) ministers in June 2008 caused the DMK to end its alliance with the PMK, although the relationship had been difficult for some time previously.[11] Guru was arrested and imprisoned on remand in July on suspicion of attempted murder.[12] The PMK founder, S. Ramadoss, protested the arrest, claiming it was part of a political vendetta.[11] The detention order, which had been made under the National Security Act and upheld by the Madras High Court was revoked in November of that year, with conditions attached that included he posted bail in the two outstanding cases against him, including the alleged attempted murder, and that he desisted from making inflammatory speeches.[13]

When Guru stood in the Tiruvannamalai constituency in the 2009 general elections, he suffered a record defeat as the DMK targeted PMK candidates after the break-up of the alliance.[14]

Guru was acquitted in the 2008 attempted murder case in 2010 due to lack of evidence.[15] At the time of the 2011 state assembly elections, Guru and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate M. Muruganandam were noted as having the most outstanding cases of all the candidates, with nine each. Guru — whose cases mostly related to allegations of attempted murder, damage to public property and speeches inciting racial hatred — protested that he had never lost a case and has a clear conscience. [16]

There were further legal problems in 2012, when he was cited under the Indian Penal Code by the police for unlawful assembly and riot in relation to a speech he allegedly delivered at Thazhambur, Kancheepuram district. Furthermore, a speech at the Chithirai festival in Mamallapuram resulted in his 2013 arrest under the National Security Act.[17]

At the time of the 2016 state assembly elections, there were 18 police cases pending against Guru, of which charges had been pressed in six. This was the greatest number filed against any candidate, with the combined total for all candidates being 324.[18]

Guru was born on 1 February 1961[19] in Kaduvetti, now a part of Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu. He was the son of a local leader of the Communist Party of India.[20] He was a post graduate with a M.A degree[19] and a resident of Kaduvetti.[11] He died, age 57, on 25 May 2018 in a private hospital and was survived by his wife, a son and daughter.[20]