Nainar Nagenthran (born 16 October 1960) is an Indian politician who is the current legislature party leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. From 19 May 2001 to 12 May 2006, he served as the minister of Tamil Nadu in the ministry led by former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa and O. Panneerselvam. He has been the vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Tamil Nadu (TNBJP), since 3 July 2020. He has won the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections from the Tirunelveli constituency in 2006 and 2011 as an All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate and 2021 as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.

Political career

He left the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party in August 2017 to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1] He was one of several AIADMK figures to do so and soon after his move he was appointed a state-level BJP vice-president.[2]

As an AIADMK candidate, Nagendran was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Tirunelveli constituency in the 2001[3] and 2011 state assembly elections.[4] He lost the seat by 606 votes in the election of 2006[5] and in 2016, when the difference was 601. His opponent in the latter election was A. L. S. Lakshmanan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a person he had beaten in 2011 by over 38,000 votes.[4]

Nagendran served variously as a Minister for Electricity, Industry and Transport during the AIADMK-led government of 2001–2006. He was not a member of the cabinet during the AIADMK government led by Jayalalithaa from 2011 but he said it was her death and the subsequent rudderless situation in which the party found itself that caused his move to the BJP in 2017.

In 2021, as a BJP candidate Nagendran has been elected to Tamil Nadu state assembly from Tirunelveli constituency for the third time defeating the DMK candidate by a margin of 23,107 votes. In addition he has been also selected as the leader of BJP members in Tamil Nadu assembly.[1]

Disproportionate assets case

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption of Tamil Nadu conducted raids in 12 places belonging to Nagenthran in various parts of Chennai, Kochi, and his native place of southern Tirunelveli district.[6] In 2006, an investigation revealed the accumulation of assets in excess of his income when he was a minister of Tamil Nadu. It also revealed that Nagenthran bought properties, including gold jewellery and lands.[7] A chargesheet was filed in December 2010 against Nagenthran, his wife and four other relatives under the Prevention of Corruption Act for a ₹3.9 crore disproportionate assets case by the Directorate of Vigilance.[8]

Controversy

Nainar Nagenthran has sent death threats against acclaimed Tamil lyricist and writer Vairamuthu in January 2018 for his controversial remarks on Andal. He has announced that BJP leaders are ready to award a cash reward of ₹10 crore if anyone slays and chops the tongue of writer Vairamuthu. He also said there should be no hesitation in killing even those people who speak ill of Hinduism.[9][10] This created a giant controversy in Tamil Nadu.[11] Later, he was arrested together with Hindu Munnani state vice-president V. C. Jayabalan for provocative hate speech that would cause divisiveness among the people and posed a threat to national unity.[12]

Elections contested and positions held

Lok Sabha elections

Elections Lok Sabha Constituency Political party Result Vote percentage Opposition
Candidate Political party Vote percentage
2019 17th Ramanathapuram BJP Lost 32.13% K. Navaskani IUML 44.05%
2024 18th Tirunelveli BJP Lost 31.54% C. Robert Bruce INC 47.06%

Tamil Nadu Legislative elections

Elections Constituency Party Result Votes %
2001 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Tirunelveli AIADMK Won 42,765 40.93%[3]
2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Tirunelveli AIADMK Lost 64,911 45.42%
2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Tirunelveli AIADMK Won 86,220 54.81%
2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Tirunelveli AIADMK Lost 81,160 43.81%
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Tirunelveli BJP Won 92,282 46.70%

Positions in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

Elections Position Elected constituency Term in office
Assumed office Left office Time in office
2001 Minister for Transport Tirunelveli 19 May 2001 2 March 2002 287 days
2001 Minister for Electricity Tirunelveli 2 March 2002 9 June 2002 99 days
2001 Minister for Electricity and Industries Tirunelveli 10 June 2002 28 August 2002 79 days
2001 Minister for Electricity and Industries and Rural Industries Tirunelveli 29 August 2002 12 November 2002 75 days
2001 Minister for Electricity and Industries Tirunelveli 13 November 2002 2 June 2003 201 days
2001 Minister for Industries Tirunelveli 3 June 2003 12 May 2006 2 years, 343 days
2011 Member of the Legislative Assembly Tirunelveli 23 May 2011 21 May 2016 4 years, 364 days
2021 Member of the Legislative Assembly Tirunelveli 11 May 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 326 days

References

  1. ^ a b Ramakrishnan, T. (27 August 2017). "Prominent AIADMK figures join BJP". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. ^ Jesudasan, Dennis S. (20 November 2017). "BJP rewards entrants from other parties". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "2001 Tamil Nadu Election Results, Election Commission of India" (PDF).
  4. ^ a b "DMK, allies make a comeback in Tirunelveli district". The Hindu. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Nainar Nagendran thanks voters". The Hindu. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  6. ^ "DVAC raids former AIADMK ministers' houses, firms". www.oneindia.com. 27 October 2006.
  7. ^ "சொத்துக்குவிப்பு வழக்கில் நயினார் நாகேந்திரனுக்கு குற்றப்பத்திரிக்கை நகல்". tamil.oneindia.com. 16 June 2011.
  8. ^ "Chargesheet filed against former AIADMK minister". Hindustan Times. 4 December 2010.
  9. ^ Jagannath, G. (19 January 2018). "Now, a death threat against Vairamuthu". DNA India. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Former minister announces 10 crore to cut Vairamuthu's tongue - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  11. ^ Akilan, Mayura (17 January 2018). "வைரமுத்துவின் நாவை அறுத்தால் ரூ.10 லட்சம் பரிசு: நயினார் நாகேந்திரன் மிரட்டல்". tamil.oneindia.com (in Tamil). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  12. ^ Ananth, M. K. (19 January 2018). "BJP leader Nainar Nagendran, five others booked for hate speeches | Chennai News - Times of India". The Times of India.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nainar_Nagenthran
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