Su. Thirunavukkarasar


Subburaman Thirunavukkarasar is an Indian politician. He was the State President of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee till 2 February 2019 and former secretary of the All India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress party. His introduction to politics in 1977 was facilitated by former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G. Ramachandran. Ramachandran founded the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1972 and was facing his first elections for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election in 1977. He identified Thirunavukkarasar, a lawyer by profession, to contest the Aranthangi assembly constituency. Thirunavukkarasar won the seat, aged 27, and was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He continued in that capacity till 1980. Subsequently, he served as Tamil Nadu state minister from 1980 to 1987 in the MGR cabinet, holding portfolios that included Industries, Housing Board, Excise and Handlooms. Later, he became a member of the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Parliament of India – when he won the erstwhile Pudukottai Lok Sabha constituency. He served as Union Minister of state for shipping and later for telecommunications and information technology.
Thirunavukkarasar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party for a brief period and was also a member of the Rajya Sabha – the upper house of the Parliament of India – from the state of Madhya Pradesh. He is a Member of Parliament, representing Tiruchirappalli constituency in the Lok Sabha.

Early life

S. Thirunavukkarasar was born in Theeyathoor, Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu on 13 July 1949. He did his M.A., B.L. at Madras University, Chennai and Venkateshwara University, Tirupathi.

Career

Thirunavukkarasar was elected from Aranthangi legislative assembly constituency at each election from 1977 to 1996. He resigned his seat on 15 October 1999.
He won the Pudukottai Lok Sabha Constituency in 1999 and was Union minister of state for Shipping and, later, Communication and Information Technology until 2004. He was removed from the party of AIADMK due to a rift with Jayalalitha.
He was appointed as the secretary of the AICC by the INC president, Sonia Gandhi. Currently, as AICC secretary, he is responsible for Telangana and participated in the selection of Jana Reddy as leader of the opposition. Thirunavukkarasar was invited to inaugurate the Tamil Nadu chapter of Indian National Congress Overseas in New York, US.

Achievements as State Minister (Tamil Nadu)

Thirunavukkarasar was the Industries, Handlooms and Commercial tax minister in the Ramachandran cabinet while simultaneously being the deputy speaker of the assembly. He established Tamil Nadu Magnesite Corporation and Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited to further exploration of mineral resources in the state. Thirunavukkarasar also established several State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited. Several paper and sugar mills were established by Thirunavukkarasar.
Believing in human resource development through education, he established schools, arts and science college and polytechnics in the 1980s. He also built small dams in rivers and started hospitals and primary health centers. These were done while there was hardly any awareness about water storage and health care.

Minister in the Government of India

As shipping minister, Thirunavukkarasar considered maritime education as necessary for the shipping industry. He emphasised the importance of technology and scientific training and encouraged the National Institute of Port Management to train more personnel. He also inaugurated new premises for Academy of Maritime Education and Training.

Congress relationship

When Sonia Gandhi took over the presidency of Congress Party in 1998. In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, MGRADMK founded by Thirunavukkarasar alligined with the Congress to face the polls.
Thirunavukkarasar contested the Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency when several congress stalwarts refused to contest the election. Recently in the year 2017 he was appointed as the State President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and has in the past served as the secretary of the All India Congress Committee from 2010 to 2017.

Film career

Thirunavukkarasar briefly worked as film distributor. He scripted and produced the film Maruthu Pandi and appeared in lead role in Agni Paarvai.
Su. Thirunavukkarasar married Jayanthi in 1978. They have three sons and two daughters.