A list of new Union Cabinet ministers issued in Tamil Nadu has triggered a debate in political circles, by referring to ‘Kongu Nadu’, the informal name for a region in the western part of the state.

• ‘Kongu Nadu’ is neither a place with a PIN code nor a name given formally to any region. It is a commonly used name for part of western Tamil Nadu.
• In Tamil literature, it was referred to as one of the five regions of ancient Tamil Nadu. There were mentions of ‘Kongu Nadu’ in Sangam literature as a separate territory.
• In the present state of Tamil Nadu, the term is informally used to refer to a region that includes the districts of Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Karur, Namakkal and Salem, as well as Oddanchatram and Vedasandur in Dindgul district, and Pappireddipatti in Dharmapuri district.
• The name derives from Kongu Vellala Gounder, an OBC community with a significant presence in these districts.

Source: EPIC, July 2021.