N. V. N. Somu

N. V. N. Somu
N. V. N. Somu
28th Union Minister of State for Defence
	In office; 21 April 1997 – 14 November 1997
Prime Minister	Inder Kumar Gujral
Minister	Mulayam Singh Yadav
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Harin Pathak (1999-2000)
	In office; 6 July 1996 – 21 April 1997
Prime Minister	H. D. Deve Gowda
Minister	Mulayam Singh Yadav
Preceded by	Mallikarjun Goud; (September 1995-May 1996)
Succeeded by	Himself
Member of the Indian Parliament; (Lok Sabha)
	In office; 10 May 1996 – 14 November 1997
Preceded by	D. Pandian
Succeeded by	C. Kuppusami; (1998-2009)
Constituency	Chennai North
	In office; December 1984 – November 1989
Preceded by	G. Lakshmanan
Succeeded by	D. Pandian
Constituency	Chennai North
Member of; Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
	In office; 19 June 1980 – 15 November 1984
Preceded by	T. S. Nallathambi
Succeeded by	K. Anbazhagan
Constituency	Park Town
Deputy Mayor of Madras
	In office; 29 November 1971 – 1972
Preceded by	To be ascertained
Succeeded by	To be ascertained
Personal details
Born	Natarajan Somasundaram; 11 May 1937; Gnayiru, Chingleput District, Madras Province, British India (now Tiruvallur district,; Tamil Nadu, India)
Died	14 November 1997 (aged 60); Between Mago and Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Cause of death	Helicopter crash
Party	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
Spouse	Uma Devi
Children	Thirumaran (son); Kanimozhi NVN Somu (daughter);
Parents	Bhuvaneshwari (mother); N. V. Natarajan (father);
Occupation	Politician, journalist, lawyer, trade unionist

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Natarajan Somasundaram (11 May 1937 – 14 November 1997), popularly known as N. V. N. Somu, was a politician, journalist, lawyer, and trade unionist from Tamil Nadu, India. He was a veteran of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Somu served as a councillor in the Madras Corporation (1968-73), Deputy Mayor of Madras (1971-72) Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Park Town (1980-84), and Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Chennai North (1984-89; 1996-97). In his second tenure as MP, he also served as Minister of State for Defence under two successive Prime Ministers - H. D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral. The later tenure was cut short by his death in a helicopter crash, when he was on an official tour of Arunachal Pradesh in November 1997.

Somu's daughter Kanimozhi NVN Somu is also a DMK MP, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha since 2021.