T. R. Baalu

T. R. Baalu
டி. ஆர். பாலு
Baalu at the launch of his book compiling his parliamentary speeches, "My Voice, for the Voiceless!"
Treasurer of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 September 2020
President	Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin
Gen. Secretary	Durai Murugan
Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping
In office 2004–2009
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Constituency	Chennai South
Minister of Environment and Forests
In office 1999–2003
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Constituency	Chennai South
Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Non-Conventional Energy Sources
In office 1996–1998
Prime Minister	H.D. Deve Gowda I.K. Gujral
Leader of DMK Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 May 2023
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 May 2019
Preceded by	K.N. Ramachandran
Constituency	Sriperumbudur
In office 2009–2014
Preceded by	A. Krishnaswamy
Succeeded by	K.N. Ramachandran
Constituency	Sriperumbudur
In office 1996–2009
Preceded by	R. Sridharan
Succeeded by	C. Rajendran
Constituency	Chennai South
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 1986–1992
Chief Ministers	MGR(1986-87) Janaki(1987) Kalaignar (1989-91) Jayalalithaa(1991-t.e.92)
Constituency	Tamil Nadu
Principal Secretary of DMK
In office August 2018-January 2020
President	MK Stalin
Gen. Secretary	Perasiriyar K Anbazhagan
Personal details
Born	T R Balasubramaniam (Ilamurugu Rasuthevar) (1941-12-13) 13 December 1941 (age 82) (15/6/1941 in official records) Thalikottai, Tanjore district, Madras Presidency, British Raj (now Tamil Nadu, India)
Political party	DMK
Spouse	Renuka Devi Baalu ​ (m. 1970)​ Porkkodi TRB ​ (m. 1970)​
Children	5, including T. R. B. Rajaa[1]
Residence(s)	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Website	Official website
Source: [1]

Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu, better known as T. R. Baalu (called Baalu), is an Indian politician. He is currently the MP of Lok Sabha of the Sriperumbudur constituency, elected five times since 1996 from Chennai South and Sriperumbudur. He is a leader of the DMK party and is known for his political loyalty, having been in the party since 1957. He is now the Treasurer of DMK, elected unopposed on 3 September 2020. He earlier served as the Principal Secretary of the DMK Party from August 2018 to January 2020.

Career and personal life

Thalikottai Raju Baalu is an leader of the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) Party. Baalu was born on 13 December 1941 (his official DOB remains as 15 June due to confusion at the time of his birth) to Rajuthevar and Vadivambal at Thalikottai in Thiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu.^{[citation needed]} He studied B.Sc. in New College (Madras University) and his diploma in drafting engineering drawings from Central Polytechnic, Chennai. Baalu's political career started at a very early age of sixteen when he joined the DMK party. He became Secretary of Chennai City District (Unsplit) unit of DMK in 1982.^[1][2]

Baalu was first elected to Parliament as a member of Rajya Sabha in 1986.

Lok Sabha in 1996 from Chennai South constituency and became Minister of State in the Ministry Petroleum and Natural Gas. Towards the end of his tenure, he also held additional charge of the then Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (now called the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy). Baalu was re-elected to Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 from the same constituency and again in 2009 and 2019 from Sriperumbudur constituency. Baalu served as Cabinet Minister of Environment and Forests from 1999 to December 2003 and as Minister of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways from 2004 to 2009.^[1]

T.R. Baalu was the Leader of DMK Parliamentary Party during the 15th Loksabha and 17th Lok Sabha and He also held the charge as Chairman of the Department Related Standing Committee of Parliament of the Ministry of Railways. In addition, Baalu was a member of several parliamentary committees like Ethics Committee, House Committee and Consultative Committee of Ministry of Finance. He is also a Member of International World Affairs Council (IWAC).^[1]

In his political career Baalu went to jail over 20 times for participating in demonstrations and agitations for public cause. He came to political limelight when he was jailed for one year under MISA in 1976 for protesting against Emergency clamped in the country. He protested strongly against the midnight arrest and imprisonment of his party leader Karunanidhi on 30 June 2001.^[1] At that time, he was the union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. And it was the first time, a Cabinet Minister to be arrested by a State's Police Force.^{[citation needed]}

Baalu is married to his long-term love Renuka Devi and later to his cousin Porkkodi, and has three sons and two daughters.^[3] His second son T R B Rajaa (Renuka) is considered to be his Political Successor, having won 3 consecutive Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from their native constituency Mannargudi and now holds high offices both in the party (as DMK IT Wing Secretary) and the Tamil Nadu Government (as Industries Minister), while his other 2 sons Selvakumaar (Ren.), Rajkumar (Por.) and the eldest daughter Devi Kanchana (Por.) and take care of the businesses and institution, while the younger Manonmani (Por.) worked as a reporter-journalist in Tamil news channels.

Elections contested and positions held

• 1986–1992 : was elected as a Member, Rajya Sabha. This is considered to be Former TN CM Dr.MGR's first electoral defeat.
• 1996: Elected to Lok Sabha (Eleventh) for the 1st time
• 1996-1998: Minister of State, Petroleum, Natural Gas and Non-Conventional Energy Sources
• 1998: Elected to Lok Sabha (Twelfth) for the second time
• 1999: Elected to Lok Sabha (Thirteenth) for the third time
• 1999-2003: Cabinet Minister, Environment and Forests
• 2004: Elected to Lok Sabha (Fourteenth) for the fourth time from Chennai South (Lok Sabha constituency)
• 2004-2009: Cabinet minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways.
• 2009: Elected to Lok Sabha (Fifteenth) for the fifth time from Sriperumbudur^[1]
• 2019: Elected to Lok Sabha (Seventeenth) for the sixth time from Sriperumbudur

As a member of parliament and minister

Baalu is one of the prominent leaders to work towards the implementation of Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project. He was handling it during his tenure as the minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.^[10] The project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping canal through the shallow sea sometimes called Setu Samudram, and through the chain of islands variously known as Ram Sethu or the Adam's Bridge. A few organisations are opposing the dredging of Ramasethu on religious, environmental and economical grounds. Many of these parties and organisations support implementation of this project using one of the five alternative alignments considered earlier without damaging the structure considered sacred by Hindus.^[11] During 2006, the Supreme Court Baalu quashed a case requesting a ban on the project and issues notices to Baalu and the environment ministry.^[12] With 22 km of dredging remaining, the project is held from March 2010 by a Supreme Court order seeking the Central Government to clarify the status of the bridge as a national monument.^[13] He was recruited as a minister in 2009 during the second term on UPA coalition government as it was reported that the Prime Minister was unhappy with Baalu over the corruption charges in Sethusamudram project. But he continued as the head of the DMK parliamentary party and also part of various central committees.^[14]

DMK pulled out of the ruling UPA on 20 March 2013 following widespread protests in Tamil Nadu against the central government for not taking up the concerns of Tamils in Sri Lanka in the UN resolution against the alleged human rights violation against Tamils by Sri Lankan government.^[15][16] There was a brief controversy when Azhagiri did not accompany the contingency led by Baalu, the head of MPs from the DMK party, to tender resignation in the Prime minister's office and to hand over the letter of withdrawal to the President on 20 March 2013. It was claimed as a mark of protest against his father Karunanidhi's decision to pull out from the central ministry. Some sources claim he delayed his resignation as he was not kept in the loop while taking the decision and snubbed Baalu.^[15][17][18]

The fifth Joint parliamentary committee was constituted in February 2011 to probe 2G case. It is headed by P.C. Chacko and had 30 members, 15 each from the ruling UPA and opposition members belonging to BJP, JD (U), CPI, CPM, Trinamool Congress, BJD, DMK and the AIADMK in the 30-member panel accused P.C. Chacko of being "partisan" and demanded his removal (They submitted a memorandum to the Lok Sabha Speaker expressing their "no-confidence".^[19][20]) Three of the DMK MPs, namely, A. Raja, the IT and Telecommunication minister, Kanimozhi, the daughter of Karunanidhi and Rajya Sabha MP and Dayanidhi Maran, the nephew and IT and Telecommunication minister preceding A. Raja, are the three accused in the scam. Baalu is the only member from the DMK in the committee and he, along with other opposition members, snubbed the report as "half boiled" as the draft report gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while implicating the DMK minister A. Raja.^[21][22]

References

External links

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
• Official website
• R.C., Rajamani (2000). Portraits of India's Parliamentarians for the New Millennium: Lok Sabha. ISBN 9788121207027.

• v
• t
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Members of the 12th Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu

GE 1998

1. C. Kuppusami
2. Murasoli Maran
3. T. R. Baalu
4. K. Venugopal
5. Kanchi Panneerselvam
6. C. Gopal
7. N. T. Shanmugam
8. D. Venugopal
9. M. Durai
10. Gingee N. Ramachandran
11. M. C. Dhamotharan
12. Dalit Ezhilmalai
13. K. Pary Mohan
14. K. P. Munusamy
15. V. Saroja
16. Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy
17. K. Palaniswami
18. Master Mathan
19. V. K. Chinnasamy
20. C. P. Radhakrishnan
21. M. Thiyagarajan
22. A. Ganeshamurthi
23. C. Srinivasan
24. Subramanian Swamy
25. Sedapatti Muthiah
26. M. Thambidurai
27. Rangarajan Kumaramangalam
28. P. Rajarethinam
29. K. Krishnamoorthy
30. M. Selvarasu
31. S. S. Palanimanickam
32. Raja Parmasivam
33. P. Chidambaram
34. V. Sathiamoorthy
35. Vaiko
36. R. Janarthanan
37. S. Murugesan
38. Ramarajan
39. N. Dennis

Anglo-Indian

1. Beatrix D'Souza (Nominated)

11th LS members

13th LS members

Members of the 12th Lok Sabha from

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HR

HP

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MP

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MZ

NL

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