Dr. Palanivel Thiagarajan (PTR) (born 7 March 1966) is an Indian politician and the current Minister of Information Technology and Digital Services of Tamil Nadu.[1] He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election in 2016 and 2021 from Madurai Central.[2][3]
Dr. Palanivel Thiagarajan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Tamil Nadu | |
| Assumed office 11 May 2023 | |
| Chief Minister | M. K. Stalin |
| Preceded by | Mano Thangaraj |
| Finance Minister in The Government of Tamil Nadu | |
| In office 7 May 2021 – 10 May 2023 | |
| Chief Minister | M. K. Stalin |
| Preceded by | O. Panneerselvam |
| Succeeded by | Thangam Thennarasu |
| Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 25 May 2016 | |
| Preceded by | R. Sundarrajan |
| Constituency | Madurai Central |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 March 1966 Madurai, Madras State (now Tamil Nadu), India |
| Political party | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
| Spouse | Margaret Thiagarajan |
| Relations | P. T. Rajan (grandfather) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Rukmani (mother) P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan (father) |
| Alma mater | The Lawrence School, Lovedale National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (BTech) University at Buffalo (M.S., PhD) MIT Sloan School of Management (MBA) |
| Website | http://www.ptrmadurai.com/ |
Early life
editHe is the son of the late P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan, who was also a well-known politician in Tamil Nadu. His grandfather, P. T. Rajan, was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 4 April 1936, to 24 August 1936.
Following his schooling at The Lawrence School, Lovedale, and Vikaasa School, Madurai, Thiagarajan, he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (formerly, Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli). He obtained a master's degree in operations research and a Ph.D. in human factors engineering/engineering psychology at University at Buffalo. He then completed his MBA in financial management at MIT Sloan School of Management.[4] He is a patent holder of Methods & systems for providing structured loan commitment transactions.[5]
Corporate career
editHe began his career in 1990 as an independent consultant in Operations and Systems Improvement.[6] In 2001 he joined Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as Trader and Co-Portfolio Manager – Firm Relationship Loan Portfolio.[7][8] He quit Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as Head Of Offshore Capital Markets in the year 2008.[9][10] He then worked for Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore in the Global Capital Markets division. He quit Standard Chartered Bank as Managing Director, Financial Markets Sales in 2014.[11]
Political career
editThiagarajan was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Madurai Central Assembly constituency in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. He was re-elected in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election.
He was the Finance and Human Resources Management Minister of Tamil Nadu since May 2021.[12] He has released a White Paper on Tamil Nadu's finances after a long time.[13] In a cabinet reshuffle on 11 May 2023 by the Tamil Nadu government, he was made the Information Technology and Digital Services minister of the state.[14]
Ministry
edit| Designation | Portfolio | Party | Ministry | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | ||||
| Minister of Information Technology & Digital Services | Information Technology and Digital Services[15] | DMK | M.K.Stalin | 11 May 2023 | Incumbent |
| Minister of Finance and Human Resources Management | Finance, Planning, Personal and Administrative Reforms, Pensions and Pension allowances. | 7 May 2021 | 10 May 2023 | ||
Electoral performance
edit| Elections | Constituency | Party | Result | % Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election | Madurai Central | DMK | Won | 42.55% | |
| 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election | Madurai Central | DMK | Won | 49.47% | |
Detailed performance
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMK | Dr. Palanivel Thiagarajan | 64,662 | 42.55 | +3.35 | |
| AIADMK | M. Jeyabal | 58,900 | 38.75 | New | |
| DMDK | D. Siva Muthukumar | 11,235 | 7.39 | −45.37 | |
| BJP | M. Karthik Prabu | 6,926 | 4.56 | +1.98 | |
| NTK | C. Vetri Kumaran | 2,998 | 1.97 | New | |
| NOTA | None Of The Above | 2,683 | 1.77 | New | |
| Margin of victory | 5,762 | 3.80 | −9.78 | ||
| Turnout | 151,982 | 65.20 | −9.56 | ||
| DMK gain from DMDK | Swing | -10.22 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMK | Dr. Palanivel Thiagarajan | 73,205 | 49.47 | +6.92 | |
| AIADMK | N. Jothi Muthuramalingam | 39,029 | 26.37 | −12.38 | |
| MNM | B. Mani | 14,495 | 9.79 | New | |
| NTK | J. Pandiammal | 11,215 | 7.58 | +5.61 | |
| Independent | Kremmer Suresh | 4,907 | 3.32 | New | |
| SDPI | G. S. Sikkandar Batcha | 3,347 | 2.26 | +1.15 | |
| NOTA | None of the above | 1,441 | 0.97 | −0.79 | |
| Margin of victory | 34,176 | 23.09 | 19.30 | ||
| Turnout | 147,989 | 61.17 | −4.03 | ||
| DMK hold | Swing | +6.92 | |||
Personal life
editHe married Margaret, whom he met at University at Buffalo where he was pursuing his Ph.D. while she was pursuing her Master's. They have two sons.[17]
References
edit- ^ "MK Stalin to head 34-member cabinet: PTR is Finance Minister, Ma Su gets Health". The News Minute. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu - Madurai Central 2016". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- ^ "Palanivel Thiagarajan Election Results 2021: News, Votes, Results of Tamil-nadu Assembly". NDTV. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Basu, Soma (5 October 2017). "Unlike a politician". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ Methods and systems for providing structured loan commitment transactions
- ^ "Meet Palanivel Thiagarajan, the next Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu! What are his challenges?". The New Stuff. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "This Former Lehman Banker Is Betting On Legacy In TN Polls". The Huffington Post. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "From Wall Street to TN assembly polls: Will Thiagarajan be able to make his mark in politics?". CatchNews.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ Narayanan, Dinesh. "Wall Street banker P Thiaga Rajan contests elections from temple town Madurai". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ Manthan India (12 May 2015), The Collapse of Lehman Brothers – An Insider's Perspective with P T Rajan, retrieved 7 May 2016
- ^ Murali D (13 November 2014), Dr P T Rajan, Former Managing Director, Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank, retrieved 7 May 2016
- ^ Sivapriyan, ETB (30 May 2021). "Palanivel Thiagarajan: Former banker looks to fix Tamil Nadu's finances". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "Tamil Nadu releases white paper on economy; says GSDP rate declined by 3% in a decade". The Week.
- ^ "Portfolios of 5 TN mins changed; PTR gets tech, Thennarasu gets finance". DT Next. 11 May 2023.
- ^ ThePrint (11 May 2023). "'Big demotion' for PTR? DMK leader dropped as finance minister in reshuffle, given IT instead". Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ "Assembly wise Candidate Valid Votes count 2016, Tamil Nadu" (PDF). www.elections.tn.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "This American is part of the campaign for Madurai Central". The Times of India. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.