Munisamy Thambidurai (born 15 March 1947) is an Indian politician who served as the

Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha (IAST: ) is the second highest ranking legislative officer of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. They act as the presiding officer in case of leave or absence caused by death or illnes ...

and leader of

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mi ...

(AIADMK) in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

, the lower house of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

. He had served as the Cabinet Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and as the Minister of State of

Surface Transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...

from March 1998 to April 1999. He had also served as the

from 1985 to 1989.

Political career

Thambidurai started his political career as a youth worker and student activist of the erstwhile united DMK in 1965 at the age of 18, when he was in the first year as a student of Madras Christian College. He participated in the anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 and courted arrest. He worked his way up in the Party as a hard working organizer, starting as a worker at the booth level for Municipal and Legislative Assembly polls in 1967 and 1971 for the DMK, and also as an

Agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...

coordinator in universities and colleges. He was among the founding-members and first generation of the

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief m ...

in 1972 when the party split with M.G. Ramachandran. He became an MLA from

Erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the ...

in 1977, and was first elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

to the

8th Lok Sabha The 8th Lok Sabha ran from 31 December 1984 to 27 November 1989. Politicians were elected in December 1984, taking office by the end of the month. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the bicameral Parliament of India. 9 s ...

in 1984 from

Karur (Lok Sabha constituency) Karur is a Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) constituency in Tamil Nadu. Its Tamil Nadu Parliamentary Constituency number is 23 of 39. Assembly segments Karur Lok Sabha constituency is composed of the following assembly segments: Before 2009: ...

Dharmapuri Dharmapuri is a special grade town in the north western part of Tamil Nadu, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district which is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by spli ...

and was subsequently elected to the

9th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elec ...

12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that d ...

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

and

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...

. Also he was elected during Tamil Nadu assembly 2001,2006

Bargur (state assembly constituency) Bargur is a state assembly constituency in Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu, India. Its State Assembly Constituency number is 52. It comprises portions of the Krishnagiri and Pochampalli taluks and is a part of Krishnagiri constituency f ...

. He also served as minister of Education, Technical Education, Science and Technology, Sports and Youth Welfare, Archeology, Tamil Development and Tamil Culture, Indian Overseas, Refugees and Evacuees. He was portfolio during jayalaitha 2001 cabinet. Thambidurai contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from

in Tamil Nadu and was subsequently elected as a member of the Indian Parliament. He had been serving as the leader of AIADMK in the Lok Sabha since 2009. He lost in the general elections in 2019 to

Jothimani Jothimani Sennimalai (born 9 August 1975), also known mononymously as Jothimani, is an Indian politician, writer, and social worker. A member of the Indian National Congress, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Karur, Tamil Nadu in 2019. Hav ...

Elections contested and results

Personal life

Dr.M.Thambidurai belongs to a community which is a majority in the western Districts of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

which comprises the districts of Coimbatore,

Tiruppur Tiruppur or Tirupur ( ) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur is the administrative headquarters of Tiruppur district and the fifth largest city as well as an urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Noyyal Ri ...

Karur Karur () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Karur is the administrative headquarters of Karur district. It is located on the banks of Amaravathi River, River Amaravathi, Kaveri and Noyyal. Karur is well known for the export of Home Te ...

. He is member of the Trust of Adhiyamaan Educational and Research Institutions, Chennai; St.Peter's Institute of Higher Education and Research Chennai; Lakshmi Sarawathi Educational Trust, Chennai; Kovai Kalaimagal Educational Trust which is managed by his wife Dr. T. Bhanumathi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thambidurai, M. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians People from Tamil Nadu Law Ministers of India Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu Deputy Speakers of the Lok Sabha Living people Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 2009–2014 People from Dharmapuri district India MPs 2014–2019 People from Krishnagiri district 1947 births University of Madras alumni India MPs 1984–1989 People from Karur district