Nainar Nagendran

Nainar Nagendran
Member of Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 May 2021
ConstituencyTirunelveli
In office
2011–2016
ConstituencyTirunelveli
In office
2001–2006
ConstituencyTirunelveli
Vice President of TN BJP
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 2020
Cabinet Minister for Electricity, Industry and Transport
In office
2001–2006
Personal details
Born (1960-10-16) 16 October 1960 (age 64)
Vadiveeswaram, Madras State, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party

Nainar Nagendran (born 16 October 1960) is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state of Tamil Nadu.

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]

Electoral performance

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%

Lok Sabha Elections

Elections Constituency Party Result Vote percentage Opposition Candidate Opposition Party Opposition vote percentage
2019 Indian general election Ramanathapuram BJP Lost 32.13 Kani K. Navas IUML 44.05
2024 Indian general election Tirunelveli BJP Lost 31.54 C. Robert Bruce INC 47.06

Disproportionate assets case

Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption conducted raids in 12 places belonging to Nagendran in various parts of Chennai city and in his native place of southern Tirunelveli district and in Kochi.[6] Later, investigation conducted in 2006 revealed the accumulation of Nainar Nagendran's assets in excess of his income when he was a minister of Industry, Power and Transport during the AIADMK rule. Vigilant police investigation has revealed that Nagendran bought property including gold jewellery and lands for more than 3 crore 9 lakh 97 thousand 97 rupees.[7] A chargesheet was filed in December 2010 against Nainar Nagendran his wife and four other relatives under the Prevention of Corruption Act for Rs 3.9 crore disproportionate assets case by Directorate of Vigilance.[8]

Controversy

Nainar Nagendran has sent death threats against acclaimed Tamil lyricist and writer Vairamuthu in January 2018 for his controversial remarks on Andal. Nagendran 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 huge controversy in Tamil Nadu.[11] Later, he was arrested together with Hindu Munnani state vice-president VC Jayabalan for provocative hate speech that would cause divisiveness among the people and posed a threat to national unity.[12]

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.