NEW DELHI: A Congress loyalist, V Narayanaswamy, 68, finally got his due when he was inducted in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's council of ministers.
As the party's chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, he has had a long run in the upper house, having served on several parliamentary panels.
"I will live up tot he party's expectations by sheer dint of hard work. After all, I am a party worker and ready to discharge my duties in whatever capacity our leaders want," he had said after being nominated to Manmohan Singh's panel of vice-chairmen in 1997.
He has vehemently and often condemned the policies of the BJP-led NDA government and has called it 'inefficient and uninspiring'.
His organisational skills have stood him in good stead. Being the chief of the party unit for several years, Narayanswamy has worked hard to ensure that the Congress was always in the reckoning. He was instrumental in bringing Congress back to power in 2000 and 2001 after a gap of four years.
He played a pivotal role in dethroning former chief minister N Rangasamy, who was accused of acting in a unilateral manner without consulting party high command and party colleagues in the territory in 2008.
He was sentenced to jail imprisonment for participating in agitations following the arrest of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1978 by the Janata Dal government.
A lawyer by profession, Narayanaswamy was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in August 1985, and then in 1991. His seniority and trustworthiness were two strong points that made the party leadership nominate him again in 2003.
(With inputs from Bosco Dominique)
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