Dr. H.V. Hande, former Health Minister, Tamil Nadu, is a political leader who has seen the late former Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, from close quarters; but always as a political opponent. Hande, who practises at his hospital in Shenoy...
moreDr. H.V. Hande, former Health Minister, Tamil Nadu, is a political leader who has seen the late former Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, from close quarters; but always as a political opponent. Hande, who practises at his hospital in Shenoy Nagar, Chennai, sits in Room #1, and attends to patients with professional warmth. One of the highpoints of his political career, during which he was a member of the Madras Legislative Council and later the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, is his contest against Karunanidhi at the Anna Nagar Assembly constituency, in which he gave the former Chief Minister a tough electoral fight, and lost by a mere 699 votes. Verbal duels between Hande and Karunanidhi were a regular feature of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly when the former was an MLA and the latter was Chief Minister. In this conversation, with V.S. Sambandan, Chief Administrative Officer, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Hande shares his views about the late Chief Minister and his convictions, be it opposing the Emergency or working for the have-nots. Excerpts:
