Pon Radhakrishnan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of State for Finance | |
| In office 3 September 2017 – 24 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Arun Jaitley |
| Preceded by | Arjun Ram Meghwal |
| Succeeded by | Anurag Thakur |
| Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways | |
| In office 9 November 2014 – 3 September 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Nitin Gadkari |
| Preceded by | Krishan Pal Gurjar |
| Succeeded by | V. K. Singh |
| In office 8 September 2003 – 22 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Minister | B. C. Khanduri |
| Preceded by | Shripad Naik |
| Succeeded by | K. H. Muniyappa |
| Minister of State for Shipping | |
| In office 9 November 2014 – 24 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Nitin Gadkari |
| Preceded by | Krishan Pal Gurjar |
| Succeeded by | Mansukh L. Mandaviya(as MoS Independent charge) |
| Member of theIndian Parliament forKanyakumari | |
| In office 5 June 2014 – 18 June 2019 | |
| Preceded by | J. Helen Davidson |
| Succeeded by | H. Vasanthakumar |
| Member of theIndian Parliament forNagercoil | |
| In office 6 October 1999 – 16 May 2004 | |
| Preceded by | N. Dennis |
| Succeeded by | A. V. Bellarmin |
| 9th President ofBharatiya Janata Party, Tamil Nadu | |
| In office 30 December 2009 – 27 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | La. Ganesan |
| Succeeded by | Tamilisai Soundararajan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-03-01)1 March 1952 (age 73) |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Residence(s) | Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Alma mater | Scott Christian College,Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai |
| Profession | Lawyer, Politician |
Pon Radhakrishnan (born 1 March 1952) is an Indian politician representing theBharatiya Janata Party. He was theMinister of State in theMinistry of Finance andMinistry of Shipping between May 2014 and May 2019.[1] Earlier, he served as the Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways in theNDA government. He has also served as the Minister of State for Youth affairs andMinister of State in theMinistry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation inThird Vajpayee Ministry. He was elected toLok Sabha fromKanyakumari inTamil Nadu in 2014. He lost in the recent 2019, 2021 (by-election) and 2024 parliamentary elections.
Radhakrishnan was born on March 1, 1952, in Alanthangarai village,Kanyakumari district to his father Ponnaya Ayyappan and mother Thangakani into a traditional Congress family, Radhakrishnan holds a BL Degree fromGovernment Law College, Chennai.[2]
AfterKamaraj's demise, some of Radhakrishnan's family members joined the Janata Party. Radhakrishnan's brother Ramakrishnan joined theHindu nationalistJana Sangh and took charge as the district chairman. Radhakrishnan's uncle Chidambaram Athiswami Nadar contested and won theColachal constituency in the 1977 elections on behalf of theJanata Party. In 1981, Radhakrishnan joined aRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and later became its secretary. Later, Radhakrishnan's father Ponnaya Ayyappan was elected as the District President ofVishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).[2]
Radhakrishnan joined theHindu Munnani which was started in 1980, began to grow slowly in theKanyakumari district. He traveled with its founder Rama Gopalan throughout Tamil Nadu for about a year as his assistant. He also worked as a co-organizer of the Hindu Munnani in the state.[2]
Radhakrishnan contested the Lok Sabha elections in Nagercoil for the first time in the 1991 elections. Despite being in the Hindu Munnani at the time, he contested as a BJP candidate and got 1 lakh 2 thousand 29 votes.[2]
Pon Radhakrishnan won the 1999Lok Sabha election fromNagercoil constituency and became Minister of State for Youth Affairs in theAtal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government of 1999–2004. Later, he also served as Minister of State for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.[3]
Radhakrishnan was defeated by a CPI (M) candidate in the Nagercoil Lok Sabha constituency in 2004, and in 2009, he was beaten by a DMK candidate in Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency.[4]
He was president ofTamil Nadu state unit of theBharatiya Janata Party, resigning the position when he became a Minister of State in theNarendra Modi-led government.[5] He had won in a Lok Sabha seat in the2014 Indian general election, fromKanyakumari constituency by a margin of 1,28,662 votes.[6] During this tenure, he served as Minister of State in various portfolios like Heavy Industries, Shipping and Finance.[citation needed]
In September 2019, Radhakrishnan created a controversy after calling Tamil people as 'ungrateful'. He explained that the Tamil people failed to celebrate Modi after he praised the Tamil language. Later he claimed that he did not call all Tamils as ungrateful and only those doing politics with the language.[7][8]
Pon. Radhakrishnan participated in a BJP rally in support ofCitizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in Nagercoil in March 2020 where he spoke of chasing awayChristian priests from the district. Many demanded that action be taken against Pon. Radhakrishnan for his communal speech which can incite violence.[9] Police complaints were also filed against him.[10]
Fishermen in Kanniyakumari claimed that around 40,000 - 45,000 fishermen votes in the 48 coastal hamlets in Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency was deliberately removed from the electoral-list out of fear that the fishermen would vote against the lone BJP Union minister, Pon Radhakrishnan, contesting in the constituency during the 2019 Lok sabha elections.[11] The coastal fishermen also complained that votes of inland fishermen in another 68 villages also have been removed purposely. They also alleged that their names were removed only a few days before the day of polling.[12][13]
He lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 by a margin of 2.59 lakh votes toH. Vasanthakumar from Indian National Congress.[14]
After the death of Vasanthakumar, he again contested in 2021 Lok Sabha by-election. But he was defeated by a margin of 1,37,950 votes byVijay Vasanth who is the son of late Vasanthakumar.[15] He again contested in2024 election and lost again.
Pon Radhakrishnan claimed in 2018 that the#MeToo movement was launched by "people with perverted minds" and questioned if it was appropriate to make charges about occurrences that took place years ago.[16] He claimed it "corrupts the purity of our land and honor of women" and said it is not a good thing. He also questioned the fairness of "if someone made such an allegation about an incident when playing together in Class 5" and asked whether it would be appropriate for men to begin levelling similar allegations against women.[17][18]
Radhakrishnan in 2019asked Tamil people to studyHindi andSanskrit. He said that could not learn Sanskrit for various reasons and that he was ashamed of it. He also said that Sanskrit andTamil are equal.[19] He also urged parents to let their children to learn Sanskrit.[20]
| Year | Constituency | Party | Result | % | Opponent | Opponent Party | Opponent % | Margin | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Nagercoil | BJP | Lost | 18.82 | N. Dennis | INC | 51.60 | -32.78 | ||
| 1996 | Lost | 30.25 | TMC(M) | 35.18 | -4.93 | |||||
| 1998 | Lost | 45.08 | 50.00 | -4.92 | ||||||
| 1999 | Won | 50.21 | INC | 26.41 | +23.80 | |||||
| 2004 | Lost | 36.49 | A. V. Bellarmin | CPI(M) | 60.88 | -24.39 | ||||
| 2009 | Kanniyakumari | Lost | 33.24 | J. Helen Davidson | DMK | 41.81 | -8.57 | |||
| 2014 | Won | 37.62 | H. Vasanthakumar | INC | 24.64 | +12.98 | ||||
| 2019 | Lost | 35.00 | 59.77 | -24.77 | ||||||
| 2021 (By-election) | Lost | 39.92 | Vijay Vasanth | 52.50 | -12.58 | |||||
| 2024 | Lost | 33.24 | 53.06 | -19.82 | ||||||
| Year | Constituency | Party | Result | % | Opponent | Opponent Party | Opponent % | Margin | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Nagercoil | BJP | Lost | 22.87 | A. Nanjil Murugesan | AIADMK | 40.01 | -17.14 | ||
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