T R Baalu: The DMK Stalwart, Candidate From Siperumbudur (image-facebook/TR Baalu)
Thalikottai Rajuthevar Baalu is one of the prominent leader of DMK. The sitting MP of the Sriperumbudur constituency is once again fielded as the candidate from the same constituency. The DMK leader is known for his loyalty as he has been part of the party since 1957.
Born in 1941, T R Balu hails from the village of Thiruvarur. Baalu was first elected to the Parliament as a member of Rajya Sabha in 1986. His political career is filled with twists and turns, Baalu has gone to jail over 20 times for participating in demonstrations and agitations for public cause. Balu came to the political limelight when he was jailed for one year under MISA in 1976 for protesting against Emergency clamped in the country. The DMK leader was among the leaders who protested strongly against the midnight arrest and imprisonment of his party leader Karunanidhi in 2001.
Baalu was reelected to Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 from the same constituency of Chennai South and again in 2009 from Sriperumbudur constituency.
Baalu is also one of the prominent leaders to work towards the implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project. He was handling it during his tenure as the minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways. The project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping canal through the shallow sea sometimes called Setu Samudram, and through the chain of islands variously known as Ram Sethu or the Adam”s Bridge.
In 2006, the Supreme Court quashed a case against Balu. The apex court banned the project and issued notice to Baalu and the environment ministry. With 22 km of dredging remaining, the project is held from March 2010 by a Supreme Court order seeking the Central Government to clarify the status of the bridge as a national monument.
TR Balu has served as the leader of the DMK Parliamentary Party during the 15th and 17th Lok Sabha and held the charge as the Chairman of the Department Related Standing Committee of Parliament of the Ministry of Railways. In addition to that, Baalu has also been a member of several parliamentary committees including Ethics Committee, House Committee and Consultative Committee of Ministry of Finance.
