<p><strong>Political Party: DMK</strong></p><p><strong>Parliamentary Constituency: Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu</strong></p>.<p>Placed third in the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dmk">DMK’s </a>pecking order as treasurer, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/t-r-baalu">Thalikottai Rajuthevar Baalu</a> has been in politics since he was a teenager and was detained under the stringent Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the 1975-1977 Emergency. </p>.<p>In 1982, Baalu was named the secretary of the undivided Chennai district, a powerful post in the party hierarchy, after recognising his organisational skills. Four years later, Baalu was sent to the Rajya Sabha. </p>.<p>The 82-year-old leader is a close friend of Chief Minister M K Stalin and his trusted aide when it comes to national politics. </p>.Lok Sabha Elections 2024: All you need to know about India's parliamentary polls.<p>Baalu contested his first direct election from the prestigious Chennai South seat in 1996 and was reelected in 1998, 1999, and 2004 before shifting to Sriperumbudur in 2009. </p>.<p>A Union Minister of state from 1996 to 1998, Baalu was promoted as a cabinet minister in the A B Vajpayee government in 1999. After Murasoli Maran’s death in 2003, Baalu emerged as DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi’s point person in Delhi and enjoyed enormous powers as the Minister for Surface Transport and Shipping in the UPA-I government. </p>.<p>As his ministerial tenure was mired in controversies, Baalu didn’t find a berth in the Cabinet and lost the 2014 elections from his native Thanjavur seat. In 2019, he shifted to Sriperumbudur from where he is seeking reelection now. </p>
<p><strong>Political Party: DMK</strong></p><p><strong>Parliamentary Constituency: Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu</strong></p>.<p>Placed third in the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/dmk">DMK’s </a>pecking order as treasurer, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/t-r-baalu">Thalikottai Rajuthevar Baalu</a> has been in politics since he was a teenager and was detained under the stringent Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the 1975-1977 Emergency. </p>.<p>In 1982, Baalu was named the secretary of the undivided Chennai district, a powerful post in the party hierarchy, after recognising his organisational skills. Four years later, Baalu was sent to the Rajya Sabha. </p>.<p>The 82-year-old leader is a close friend of Chief Minister M K Stalin and his trusted aide when it comes to national politics. </p>.Lok Sabha Elections 2024: All you need to know about India's parliamentary polls.<p>Baalu contested his first direct election from the prestigious Chennai South seat in 1996 and was reelected in 1998, 1999, and 2004 before shifting to Sriperumbudur in 2009. </p>.<p>A Union Minister of state from 1996 to 1998, Baalu was promoted as a cabinet minister in the A B Vajpayee government in 1999. After Murasoli Maran’s death in 2003, Baalu emerged as DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi’s point person in Delhi and enjoyed enormous powers as the Minister for Surface Transport and Shipping in the UPA-I government. </p>.<p>As his ministerial tenure was mired in controversies, Baalu didn’t find a berth in the Cabinet and lost the 2014 elections from his native Thanjavur seat. In 2019, he shifted to Sriperumbudur from where he is seeking reelection now. </p>