Tamil Nadu state BJP president Dr. L. Murugan was, on Wednesday, inducted into the new cabinet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Murugan is the only BJP leader from Tamil Nadu who has been inducted into the Union cabinet after a gap of two years. Earlier, BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan was the only minister of state from Tamil Nadu in the 2014-2019 NDA regime.
Born in 1977, in a village in Namakkal district, Murugan practised law for over 15 years, representing the government of India, as its standing counsel in the Madras High Court. Later, he was appointed as the vice chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, where he raked up the Panchami land issue against DMK and its mouthpiece Murasoli.
It was in March 2020 that Murugan became a popular face in Tamil Nadu, after he was appointed as the president of the BJP state unit. The seat fell vacant in September 2019, when its former president Tamilisai Soundararajan was appointed governor of Telengana. Apparently, Murugan’s appointment helped the national party gain a lot of attention in a state that is deeply rooted in Dravidian ideologies. Though there was much competition within the party for the top post, Murugan was made the chief by the BJP high command. Incidentally, he was the second leader from the Dalit community, to be elevated to a top position in the Tamil Nadu BJP unit, after SP Kirubanidhi.
After Murugan’s elevation, there were murmurs in the corridors of Kamalalayam, the state BJP headquarters Chennai, on the divisions among the Brahmin and the non-Brahmin representatives in the party. But Murugan’s Vel Yatra and the state wide tour, chanting the Kandha Sashti Kavasam apparently placed Murugan and the BJP, in a better position in Tamil Nadu. The yatra helped the BJP in a state where faith rarely influences the voting patterns. Murugan’s Vel Yatra and his attacks on the DMK and the Dravidian ideologies, believes the BJP high command, has worked in favour of the party, helping it to have four MLAs in the recently concluded assembly polls.
Murugan, who contested from Dharapuram lost to Kayalvizhi Selvaraj of the DMK with a very low margin, was instrumental in reopening the party’s account in the state assembly. He successfully managed to rope in senior leaders and popular names from the Dravidian parties and also movie stars into the state BJP.
While Murugan has been elevated as the Union minister of state, sources in the BJP say the party might soon have a new face to head the state unit. Of the many names, former IPS office K. Annamalai, who recently contested from Aravakurichi constituency, is said to a probable choice. Sources say Annamalai might be chosen as the leaders in Delhi feel that he would be much more articulate in opposing the DMK and its ideologies.
