Chennai: Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazgam (DMDK) Founder-Leader and popular yesteryear Tamil actor Vijayakanth died in Chennai today following an illness. He was 71.

Earlier in the day, the party informed through a post on its official X handle that “Vijayakanth was admitted to a hospital and put on ventilator support after he complained of breathing problems.”

His body was brought to his residence and was taken to DMDK office afterwards.

Earlier, in November, Vijayakanth was admitted to MIOT Hospital in Chennai. Suffering from cough and throat pain, he was kept under the observation for 14 days. Widely known as ‘Captain’, Vijayakanth’s life is marked by a successful career in Tamil film industry. He featured in 154 movies before venturing into politics.

While holding a position at Nadigar Sangam (officially known as the South Indian Artistes’ Association (SIAA)), Vijayakanth brought revolutionary changes to the South film industry.

He founded DMDK in 2005 and the party in 2006 elections contested in all Assembly seats and bagged a lowly 10 per cent of the total vote share. However, none of the party’s candidates, apart from the founder-leader came out on the winning side.

In 2011, DMDK fought the elections in alliance with the AIADMK and contested 41 constituencies, winning 29 and emerged as the principal Opposition Party. Vijayakanth served as the leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly from 2011-2016.  He was also a MLA twice, representing the Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam constituencies.

The DMDK contested 2014 parliamentary elections in alliance with NDA but faced a huge defeat and its vote percentage saw a significant drop.

In the 2016, 2019 and 2021 elections, the DMDK didn’t  perform well as Vijayakanth battled health complications.