CHENNAI: Former Union Minister as well as former Speaker of Tamil Nadu assembly, Sedapatti R. Muthiah, aged 77,  passed away in a private hospital in Chennai on Wednesday, September 21, source confirmed.

Muthiah was a legendary leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and was the second in command of the party till 1998. Popularly known as Sedapattiar, he entered politics through the student wing of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, after completing his M.Sc in Mathematics.

After taking part in anti-Hindi agitations in the Madurai area, Sedapattiar became a student leader. As the matinee idol was extremely well-liked in the Madurai region, he joined the AIADMK when MGR formed new party in 1977.

From the Sedapatti constituency, Muthiah ran for the assembly seat in 1977, winning three times in a row. In 1991, he was elected Speaker of the Assembly, a position he held until 1996.

He was appointed Union Minister for Surface Transport in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Cabinet. Muthiah stayed out of politics for a while but eventually joined the DMK in 2008 and later joined the party's electoral branch.

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