Vidhya Rani.
Credit: DH Photo
Chennai: Notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan’s name spelled terror for decades in parts of Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts, bordering Karnataka. Two decades after Veerappan was shot dead by the Special Task Force (STF), his daughter Vidhya Rani is now taking the democratic route to ask tough questions to the political class.
Vidhya Veerappan, the 33-year-old daughter of the forest brigand who was a household name in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, will test her electoral fortunes from Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency as the nominee of Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK), a Tamil nationalist outfit.
“Her father protected the forests; she will now protect the (Tamil) race,” Seeman, the chief of NTK announced, on Saturday evening at a public rally in Chennai.
Vidhya has been chosen from Krishnagiri, a diverse constituency where people speaking at least five languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, and Urdu live.
A lawyer by profession, Vidhya, who completed a five-year law course from a college in Bengaluru, runs a school in Krishnagiri, which has been her home for the last nine years.
“Anchetti, Thalli, and Denkanikottai are places where my father not just lived but fought for the rights of the people living in hilly areas. People in hilly areas still lack basic facilities and I will lend my voice to them,” Vidhya told DH.
Though many of Seeman's policies sound impractical and absurd at times – the party eulogises LTTE and its chief Velupillai Prabhakaran -- NTK's acceptance among people has been growing. From a mere 1.1 per cent vote share in 2016, to 4 per cent votes in 2019 Lok Sabha polls to 6.7 per cent in 2021 assembly polls, the party has come a long way in emerging as the third largest party in Tamil Nadu in terms of vote share.
Vidhya had met her father Veerappan only once when she was in third standard at her grandfather’s house in Gopinatham.
“That was the first and last time I met him. We spoke for 30 minutes, and the conversation is still fresh in my mind. He held me and asked me to pursue medicine and serve the people,” she said.
Vidhya, who had joined BJP in 2020, said he made the transition to NTK after watching Koose Munisamy Veerappan, a television series on her father.
Her respect for Seeman “went up multifold” after hearing his views on her father in the documentary.
“Seeman uncle could distinguish between the right and wrong things of my father. I see a lot of similarities between my father and Seeman. That adds strength to me. I was raised by society, not by my family. I believe contesting elections is one way of giving back to society,” she added.
Vidhya, who will take on Congress candidate K Gopinath, C Narasimhan (BJP), and V Jayaprakash (AIADMK), in the April 19 Lok Sabha polls, said her poll promises would include pressing for a railway station in Krishnagiri, better health facilities, and ensuring basic facilities for those living in hilly areas.
Veerappan, who was killed by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) on October 18, 2004, in an encounter, earned notoriety for poaching elephants, smuggling sandalwood, kidnapping high-profile people like Kannada Thespian Raj Kumar and former minister Nagappa, and killing policemen and others who came his way.
The bandit ran an empire inside the forests along the Sathyamangalam forests, spread across Erode and Mysore districts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively.