Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan passed away at his residence in Sivaganga on Thursday (September 17, 2026). He was 78, and is survived by his wife, daughter, two sons, and two elder brothers.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president Manickam Tagore, a nephew of Natchiappan, said his uncle had died in his sleep. “When he did not get up in the morning, his driver went to his room, only to find he was no more,” he told The Hindu.
A Congressman since 1969, Natchiappan rose through the ranks from his early days as the Singampunari Regional Youth Congress president to become the vice-president of the TNCC in 2002. He also served as the party whip in Parliament.
Student leader
Born in Eriyur in Sivaganga district, Natchiappan was active in the Students’ Congress while studying at the Law College. “Later, he worked in the Youth Congress and became its general secretary. He was elected chairman of the Sivaganga Panchayat Union in the 1986 local body elections, which showcased a lot of talented Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Tagore said.
After practising law in Sivaganga, Natchiappan shifted his practice to the Madras High Court in 1991 and to the Supreme Court in 1995.
Congress leader E.M. Sudarasana Natchiappan (second from right) chairing a meeting of political leaders from Sri Lanka to discuss the 1987 Indo Lanka Accord in New Delhi in June 2013 | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A staunch Congress loyalist and admirer of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Natchiappan remained with the Congress when the late G.K. Moopanar launched the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) in 1996 in protest against the Congress high command’s decision to align with the AIADMK.
Victory in 1999 LS polls
Before making his mark in national politics, he gained widespread attention in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections by winning the Sivaganga parliamentary seat against senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram when the latter was in the TMC.
After Mr. Chidambaram returned to the Congress, Natchiappan could not secure the Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency again. He was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha by party leader Sonia Gandhi and represented the House for two terms. He served as the Congress Lok Sabha member from the Sivaganga constituency from 1999 to 2004 and as a Rajya Sabha member from 2004 to 2016.
He also served as Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry for a brief period between 2013 and 2014. He made significant contributions as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice between 2004 and 2009.
Natchiappan, an expert in the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, fishermen’s rights, and the Katchatheevu islet, had addressed the United Nations General Assembly on two occasions.
He had been receiving medical care for his declining health in Sivaganga for the past few days, but passed away at his residence after the treatment proved unsuccessful.
Leaders condole death
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar condoled the death of Natchiappan.
Mr. Gandhi recalled Mr. Natchiappan’s commitment to public service, Tamil Nadu and the Congress party, while Mr. Birla extended condolences to his family, friends and supporters.
Mr. Shivakumar remembered his long and dedicated service to the people of Tamil Nadu and the Congress movement. Mr. Tagore recalled his association with the Youth Congress from his early years and his contributions as Sivaganga MP, Union Minister and in various organisational positions in the party. He also said Mr. Natchiappan’s death was an irreparable loss to the Congress.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders and functionaries paid floral tributes to Mr. Natchiappan’s portrait at Sathyamurthy Bhavan in Chennai. AICC general secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir, former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangabalu, Peter Alphonse, AICC secretary Nivedith Alva, IT and social media department head and MP Vijay Vasanth, among other State and district-level leaders, functionaries and party workers, participated.
VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan said his demise was a great loss to Tamil Nadu. On behalf of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, he expressed his condolences to Mr. Natchiappan’s family and paid homage to the former Union Minister.
TVK leaders, including party spokesperson Arunraaj and C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, also condoled the death of the senior Congress leader.
Veteran political activist and former member of the central committee of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Sritharan Thirunavukkarasu, also known as Sugu, recalled that when Sri Lankan government, headed by Mahinda Rajapaksa, made an attempt to dilute the 13th Amendment to its Constitution in violation of the spirit of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord, the Congress leader took the initiative of hosting a meeting of Tamil leaders from the island-nation in New Delhi and got a resolution adopted that any such endeavour to weaken the letter and spirit of the Amendment should be stopped and powers, intended for provincial councils in Sri Lanka, be transferred.
The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran expressed sadness over the death of the former Union Minister.
