V. Senthil Balaji

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

V. Senthil Balaji
Official portrait of V. Senthil Balaji
Minister for Electricity and Prohibition & Excise (Tamil Nadu)
In office
28 September 2024 – 27 April 2025
Chief MinisterM. K. Stalin
Preceded by
Succeeded by
In office
7 May 2021 – 16 June 2023
Chief MinisterM. K. Stalin
Preceded byP. Thangamani
Succeeded by
Minister Without Portfolio (Tamil Nadu)
In office
16 June 2023 – 12 February 2024
Minister for Transport (Tamil Nadu)
In office
16 May 2011 – 28 July 2015
Chief MinisterJ. Jayalalithaa
O. Panneerselvam
J. Jayalalithaa
Preceded byK. N. Nehru
Succeeded byP. Thangamani
Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 2021
ConstituencyKarur
In office
May 2019 – May 2021
ConstituencyAravakurichi
In office
November 2016 – September 2018
ConstituencyAravakurichi
In office
May 2006 – May 2016
ConstituencyKarur
Personal details
Born (1975-10-21) 21 October 1975 (age 49)
Karur, Tamil Nadu, India
Political party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1996 - 2000 & 2018-present)
Other political
affiliations		 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (2000-2017)
Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (2018)
SpouseMegala Senthilbalaji
Children1 Daughter
EducationB.Com.
OccupationPolitician Businessman
Websitehttps://senthilbalaji.in/

V. Senthil Balaji (born 21 October 1975) is an Indian politician and former Cabinet Minister [1] of Government of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from Karur in 2006, 2011 and as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in 2021 election. Also he was elected from Aravakurichi constituency in 2016 from ADMK ticket and as DMK candidate in 2019 by election. He served as Transport Minister in Jayalalitha cabinet formed after 2011 election.

Early life

[edit]

V Senthil Balaji was born on 21 October 1975 in Rameswarapatti in Karur district. He hails from an agricultural background. He has completed his high school & Higher Secondary school studies from Rameswarapatti Govt. School, Vivekananda School, Pasupathypalayam and Municipal Higher Secondary school, Karur. He entered politics at the age of 21 and was active since early 2000s.

Politics

[edit]

In 1997 he began his public service as a local body member. He was the Minister for Transport of the Government of Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2015. He was dropped from cabinet in July 2015. As a cadre of Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, he was previously elected to the same Karur constituency in 2006 general elections. He was elected as a MLA from Aravakurichi constituency in 2016. After the demise of Jayalalithaa he played a key role in saving the government. When AIADMK separated into factions he stood by T. T. V. Dhinakaran. On 18 September 2017, 18 MLA's were disqualified by the speaker P. Dhanapal for their petition to the Governor Mr. Banwarilal Purohit to change the Chief Minister. He joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), in the presence of Party President M. K. Stalin on 14 December 2018. Soon after joining the party he was offered District Secretary post and later was announced as by-election candidate for Aravakurichi constituency. He was elected as a MLA on 23 May 2019 for fourth time.[2][3][4] He serves as a member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. He won the election held in the month of April 2021.

Arrest

[edit]

On 14 June 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Senthil Balaji during raids in Chennai and Coimbatore, linked to a money laundering case from his tenure as Transport Minister (2011–2015) in the AIADMK government.[5][6] He was placed in judicial custody and later hospitalized due to chest pain.[7] Balaji resigned in February 2024 but was reinstated as minister after his release in September 2024.[8]

Ministry

[edit]
Designation Portfolio Party Chief Minister To
Took office Left office
Tamilnadu Minister of Transport Transport, Nationalised Transport, Motor Vehicles Act AIADMK J.Jayalalithaa 16 May 2011 27 September 2014
O. Panneerselvam 28 September 2014 23 May 2015
J.Jayalalithaa 23 May 2015 28 July 2015
Tamilnadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise Electricity, Non-Conventional Energy, Prohibition & Excise, Molasses DMK M.K.Stalin 07 May 2021 16 June 2023
Tamilnadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise Electricity, Non-Conventional Energy, Prohibition & Excise, Molasses DMK M.K.Stalin 28 September 2024 28 April 2025[9][10]

Electoral performance

[edit]

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Elections

[edit]
Elections Constituency Party Result Vote percentage Opposition Candidate Opposition Party Opposition vote percentage
2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Karur AIADMK Won 46.00 Vasuki Murugesan DMK 43.84
2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Karur AIADMK Won 61.18 S.Jothimani INC 34.10
2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Aravakurichi AIADMK Won 53.51 K. C. Palanisamy DMK 39.13
2019 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by-elections Aravakurichi DMK Won 56.45 V. V. Senthil Nathan AIADMK 34.54
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Karur DMK Won 49.31 M. R. Vijayabhaskar AIADMK 43.28
[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Council of Ministers, Govt. of Tamil Nadu". Govt. of Tamil Nadu.
  2. ^ "Statistical Report of Tamil Nadu 2006 Elections" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
  3. ^ "List of MLAs from Tamil Nadu" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Council of Ministers, Govt. of Tamil Nadu". Govt. of Tamil Nadu.
  5. ^ Sivaraman, R. (13 June 2023). "T.N. Minister Senthilbalaji arrested by ED in money laundering case, remanded in judicial custody till June 28". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  6. ^ Madhav, Pramod (6 March 2025). "ED raids multiple places linked to Tamil Nadu Minister in money laundering case". India Today. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Jailed ex-minister Senthil Balaji hospitalised after complaints of chest pain". The Times of India. 21 July 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  8. ^ Correspondent, DC (13 February 2024). "Senthil Balaji Resigns As Minister". Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2025. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ "Senthil Balaji, Ponmudy step down as ministers, CM Stalin rejigs Tamil Nadu cabinet". Hindustan Times. 27 April 2025. Archived from the original on 17 May 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Tamil Nadu ministers Senthil Balaji, K Ponmudy resign: What's behind the DMK shake-up?". The Indian Express. 28 April 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.