T. R. Baalu

Infobox_Indian_politician
name = Thiru Raju Baalu


caption =
birth_date =birth date|1941|6|15|mf=y
birth_place =Thalikottai, Tamil Nadu
residence =Chennai
death_date =
death_place =
office = Member of Parliament
constituency = Chennai South
salary =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =DMK
religion =
spouse = Smt. T.R.B. Porkodi
children = Three sons and two daughters
website =
footnotes =
date = February 8
year = 2006
source = http://164.100.24.209/newls/Biography.aspx?mpsno=26

Thalikottai Rajuthevar Baalu ( _ta. பாலு) (born June 15, 1941 in Thalikottai, Thiruvarur District in Tamil Nadu) is an Indian politician and the Union Cabinet Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways. T.R. Baalu did his BSc from New College in Madras University and engineering from Central polytechnic Chennai. He is a member of Lok Sabha of India from Chennai South constituency of Tamil Nadu and has been elected 4 times since 1996. He is an important leader of the DMK party and is known for political loyalty having been in the party since 1957. He is an industrialist with an engineering background in addition to being a political and social worker. Being a firm believer in numerology, he has changed his name to BAALU as against Balu (the normal way in which it should be spelt).

Career

T.R. Baalu began his political career when he joined the DMK in 1957 as a 16 year old boy. He came to limelight when he was jailed under MISA for protesting against emergency for a year. He became the Secretary, DMK of Chennai city District unit in 1982.Baalu was first elected to Parliament as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1986 and served his full term till 1992. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and served as minister of state for petroleum, natural gas and non-conventional energy sources. He was re-elected in 1998, 1999 and 2004 from the Chennai South. He served as cabinet minister for environment and forests from 1999 to 2003.T.R.Baalu has been jailed over 15 times for participating in the agitations and demonstrations for public cause. During the Karunanidhi midnight arrest on June 30, 2001.T.R.Baalu was arrested for protesting against the arrest. T.R.Baalu refused to leave prison and said he would do so only if the charges were proved or dropped. Jayalalitha dropped the charges. [ [http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jul/03tn4.htm rediff.com: Jayalalithaa faces loss of face ] ]

Controversies

King Power a sick unit, is run by his son Selva Kumar and King Chemicals by another son Raj Kumar. Baalu got 10,000 SCMD gas allocated for King Chemicals and 0.5 MSCMD for King Power in 1999 through his political connections. A gas supply agreement (GSA) was signed only for King Chemicals but the company delayed signing the transportation contract for it. After repeated extensions of the signing date, the GSA lapsed. Now he is lobbying to get it back using his clout as a Minister in the union cabinet. In Parliament yesterday, Baalu put up a brave face: “These shareholders (of King Chemicals) asked me to do something about them. A BIFR company has to be saved by the management. Accordingly, I put a word to my friend, the Petroleum Minister. What is wrong with that?” [2] [3] Baalu wants cheap gas for son’s power plant yet to come up

Positions held

* 1986–1992 : was elected as a Member, Rajya Sabha
* 1996: Elected to Lok Sabha (Eleventh) for the first time
* 1996-1998: Minister of State, Petroleum, Natural Gas and Non-Conventional Energy Sources
* 1998: Elected to Lok Sabha (Twelfth) for the second time
* 1999: Elected to Lok Sabha (Thirteenth) for the third time
* 1999-2003: Cabinet Minister, Environment and Forests
* 2004: Elected to Lok Sabha (Fourteenth) for the fourth time
* 2004: is currently the Cabinet minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways.

T.R. Baalu is also responsible for the contentious Setu Samudra project.

References

External links

* [http://trbaalu.nic.in/minister/baalu-biodata.html Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways]
* [http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lok11/biodata/11tn04.htm Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website]
* [http://164.100.24.209/newls/Biography.aspx?mpsno=26 Members of Fourteenth Lok Sabha - Parliament of India website]
* [http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jul/06inter.htm T.R.Baalu interview on arrest]
* [http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jun/30tn14.htm No Reason cited my arrest T.R.Baalu]
* [http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jun/30tn14.htm Charges against Baalu dropped]
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010702/ldh1.htm Speakers for action over arrest]