T. R. Baalu | |
|---|---|
 Baalu at the launch of his book compiling his parliamentary speeches "My Voice for the Voiceless!" in 2024 | |
| Treasurer ofDravida Munnetra Kazhagam | |
| Assumed office 9 September 2020 | |
| President | M. K. Stalin |
| General Secretary | Durai Murugan |
| Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping | |
| In office 22 May 2004 — 23 May 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Constituency | Chennai South, Tamil Nadu |
| Union Minister of Environment and Forests | |
| In office 13 October 1999 — 21 December 2003 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Constituency | Chennai South, Tamil Nadu |
| Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Non-Conventional Energy Sources | |
| In office 6 July 1996 — 19 March 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Leader ofDravida Munnetra Kazhagam inLok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 24 May 2019 | |
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 23 May 2019 | |
| Preceded by | K. N. Ramachandran |
| Constituency | Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu |
| In office 16 May 2009 — 16 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | A. Krishnaswamy |
| Succeeded by | K. N. Ramachandran |
| Constituency | Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu |
| In office 10 May 1996 – 16 May 2009 | |
| Preceded by | R. Sridharan |
| Succeeded by | C. Rajendran |
| Constituency | Chennai South, Tamil Nadu |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 30 June 1986 — 29 June 1992 | |
| Constituency | Tamil Nadu |
| Principal Secretary ofDravida Munnetra Kazhagam | |
| In office August 2018 – January 2020 | |
| President | M. K. Stalin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | T R Balasubramaniam (Ilamurugu Rasuthevar) (1941-12-13)13 December 1941 (age 84) (15 June 1941 as per official records) |
| Party | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5 (includingT. R. B. Rajaa)[1] |
| Residences |
|
| Website | Official website |
| Source:[1] | |
Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu (born 13 December 1941) is an Indian politician. He is currently theMP of Lok Sabha of theSriperumbudur constituency, elected seven times since 1996 fromChennai South andSriperumbudur. 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 theTreasurer ofDMK, elected unopposed on 3 September 2020. He earlier served as the Principal Secretary of the DMK Party from August 2018 to January 2020.
Thalikottai Raju Baalu is a prominent leader in 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. He studied B.Sc. inNew College (Madras University) and his diploma in drafting engineering drawings from the Central Polytechnic College, Chennai. Baalu's political career started at a very early age of sixteen when he joined the DMK party after being amused at a speech given by the late DMK SupremoKalaignar in 1957. He was active in grass-root politics and made friends with his then neighbouring ward's youth wing personnelStalin, who did not act like a big shot even though he was the son of the thenParty President andChief Minister Dr.Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi. Baalu later became the Party's Secretary for the bastionChennai unit (Unsplit) in 1982.[1][2]
Baalu was first elected to Parliament as a member ofRajya Sabha in 1986, marking the first electoral defeat of AIADMK sinceMGR came to power.
He then became a member of the Lok Sabha in 1996 fromChennai South and became a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas underPrime MinisterDevegowda. 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 the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 from the same constituency and again in 2009, 2019 and 2024 from theThiruperumbudur constituency, losing power once in 2014 contesting fromThanjavur. 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 in the union cabinet.[1]
T.R. Baalu is now the Leader of DMK Parliamentary Party in 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 along with DMK supremosStalin,Maran and Dravidar Kazhagam leaderK. Veeramani in 1976 for protesting against Emergency clamped in the country. He protested strongly against the midnight arrest and imprisonment of his party leaderKarunanidhi on 30 June 2001.[1] At that time, he was the unionMinister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. And it was the first time, a Cabinet Minister to be arrested by aState's Police Force.[citation needed]
Baalu was married to his long-term love Renuka Devi (died 2025) and later to his niece Porkkodi, and has three sons and two daughters.[3] His second sonT R B Rajaa (Renuka) is considered to be his political successor, having won 3 consecutiveTamil Nadu Assembly elections from their native constituencyMannargudi and now holds high offices both in the party (asDMK IT Wing Secretary) and theTamil Nadu Government (asIndustries, IP and Commerce Minister), while his other 2 sons Selvakumaar (Ren.), Rajkumar (Por.) and the eldest daughter Devi Kanchana (Por.) take care of the businesses and institution, while the younger Manonmani (Por.) previously worked as a reporter-journalist in Tamil news channels.
Baalu's first wife Renuka Devi died on the 19th of August 2025 due to age-related ailments at the age of 79 with her husband, 2 sons and their family by her side.
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Opponent Party | Opponent Votes | % | Result | Margin | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sriperumbudur | DMK | 758,611 | 52.63 | G. Premkumar | AIADMK | 271,582 | 18.84 | Won | 487,029 | 33.79 | ||
| 2019 | 793,281 | 56.53 | A. Vaithilingam | PMK | 285,326 | 20.33 | Won | 507,955 | 36.2 | ||||
| 2014 | Thanjavur | 366,188 | 36.62 | K. Parasuraman | AIADMK | 510,307 | 51.03 | Lost | -144,119 | -14.41 | |||
| 2009 | Sriperumbudur | 352,641 | 44.44 | A. K. Moorthy | PMK | 327,605 | 41.28 | Won | 25,036 | 3.16 | |||
| 2004 | Chennai South | 564,578 | 60.41 | Bader Sayeed | AIADMK | 343,838 | 36.79 | Won | 220,740 | 23.62 | |||
| 1999 | 562,221 | 60.03 | V. Dhandayuthapani | INC | 322,037 | 34.39 | Won | 240,184 | 25.64 | ||||
| 1998 | 432,913 | 48.17 | Jana Krishnamurthi | BJP | 412,899 | 45.94 | Won | 20,014 | 2.23 | ||||
| 1996 | 538,697 | 61.97 | H. Ganesham | AIADMK | 199,516 | 22.95 | Won | 339,181 | 39.02 | ||||
| 1991 | 255,965 | 34.66 | R. Sridharan | 418,493 | 56.66 | Lost | -162,528 | -22 | |||||
Baalu is one of the prominent leaders to work towards the implementation ofSethusamudram Shipping Canal Project. He was handling it during his tenure as the minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.[4] The project proposes linking thePalk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping canal through the shallow sea sometimes calledSetu Samudram, and through the chain of islands variously known asRam 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.[5] During 2006, the Supreme Court Baalu quashed a case requesting a ban on the project and issues notices to Baalu and the environment ministry.[6] With 22 km of dredging remaining, the project is held from March 2010 by aSupreme Court order seeking theCentral Government to clarify the status of the bridge as a national monument.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9][10] 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 thePresident on 20 March 2013. It was claimed as a mark of protest against his fatherKarunanidhi'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.[9][11][12]
The fifthJoint parliamentary committee was constituted in February 2011 to probe2G case. It is headed byP.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".[13][14]) Three of the DMK MPs, namely,A. Raja, the IT and Telecommunication minister,Kanimozhi, the daughter ofKarunanidhi and Rajya Sabha MP andDayanidhi 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.[15][16]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Leader of theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam Party in the15th Lok Sabha 2009–2014 | Succeeded by |
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