He participated in the Indian independence movement.
In 1946, he made a turning point in the history of the freedom movement in Puducherry (then called Pondicherry) by forming the French India National Congress along with J.
Savarinathan, Ambadi Narayanan, Govinda Pathar and M.
A.
Annamalai.
It was succeeded by French India Students Congress.
He is often called as T.
N.
Sethuraman Chettiar by the affectionate people.
He served as the Deputy Mayor of Pondicherry.
In 1967, he was elected as the Member of Parliament from Puducherry (Lok Sabha constituency).He was a scholar and a great philanthropist.
He was a man of simplicity.
He was the political guru for many of the present politicians of Puducherry.To honor him, a street was named after him.