TAMIL NADU's INFLUENTIAL LEADERS

TOP INFLUENTCIAL PEOPLE IN TAMIL NADU

Today we are going to show the top influential people in Tamil Nadu. The people or the organizations mentioned here are purely depend on the people’s support and the number of followers they earned. The people mentioned in this document are people who are INDIAN citizen and living in TamilNadu that’s why the big names like Mrs. Indra Nooyi, Mr. Sundar Pichai and Mr. Chinnakannan Sivasankaran. And also this document mentioning only people who are still holding their power and alive. We have taken public opinion and got some source from the Internet.

So without wasting your time let see the people in the list.,

10. M.k.STALIN

Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin (born 1 March 1953) better known as M. K. Stalin, who was Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 2009 to 2011. He was Mayor of Chennai from 1996 to 2002.

He is a son of famous Tamil Nadu politician Karunanidhi. Stalin completed his graduation in history from The New College, Chennai in University of Madras. Stalin became the Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration in the Government of Tamil Nadu after the 2006 Assembly elections. On 29 May 2009, Stalin was nominated as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala.

On 3 January 2013, M.K. Karunanidhi named him as his heir apparent, thus ending a long time confusion about who would take over the party reins after Karunanidhi's death. DMK party member calls him as THALAPATHY and he is a current face of DMK party. Though his latest political “NAMAKU NAAMEA” campaign ended with much controversy, he able to reach many part of Tamil Nadu which may help him in 2016 Assembly Election. Before 2014 his influence was only in north Tamil Nadu but after the downfall of his brother M.K.Alagiri, Stalin able to gain influence in the southern part of Tamil Nadu too. He may be a Chief Minister candidate from DMK in the upcoming 2016 Assembly Election.

His political influence with his father’s legacy gave him comfort berth in the TAMIL NADU’s influential people list.

9. RAJINIKANTH

Rajinikanth (born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad 12 December 1950) is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon who works primarily in the Tamil film industry. He has also acted in Bollywood, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hollywood and Bengali films as well. Though he is not an Tamilian by birth, he won many Tamilians heart with his acting. As many of us knows about his career and early life as Rajini and Shivaji Rao we are not discussing about his film past.

RAJINI AS POLITICAL ICON:

Apart from his film career, he is also a philanthropist, spiritualist, and serves as an influence in Dravidian politics. Critics, such as Cho Ramaswamy, have commented that Rajinikanth has the potential to be successful in Indian politics due to his popularity and fan base alone. In 1995, Rajinikanth began supporting the Indian National Congress after meeting Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. An opinion poll conducted by the magazine Kumudam predicted that Congress with Rajinikanth's support might win up to 130 seats in Tamil Nadu Assembly. In 1996, when the Congress Party decided to align with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for the assembly election in Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth changed loyalties and supported Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) alliance. The TMC used a bicycle as their election symbol and used an image of Rajinikanth riding a bicycle from the film Annamalai in their posters. Rajinikanth said, "Even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if AIADMK returns to power." Rajinikanth whole heartedly supported the DMK and TMC alliance and asked the people of Tamil Nadu and his fans to vote for that alliance. This alliance had a complete victory in 1996. Rajinikanth also supported the DMK-TMC alliance in the parliamentary election held the same year. Later in 2004, Rajinikanth said he would personally vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). From that onwards BJP has some special connection with SUPERSTAR RAJINIKANTH and before every elections they will have meetings with him.

Fans of Rajinikanth in Tamil Nadu have continuously speculated his entry in politics, particularly to run for Chief Minister of the state. In 2008, a few fans in Coimbatore launched a political party for Rajinikanth, in an attempt to pressure his entry. The party was named the "Desiya Dravadar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam", with a dedicated party flag and symbol. After learning about this, Rajinikanth submitted an open letter to the media, declaring that he had no connection with these events and requested fans not to indulge in such activities, warning that he would take legal action if they failed to adhere. He also mentioned that he was not interested in politics and thus, was only committed to working in films. He added that nobody can force him to enter politics, just as no one can stop him from entering it. 

Many critics believe that RAJINIKANTH may join BJP in upcoming election and contest as CHIEF MINISTER Candidate as BJP did KIRAN BEDI in Delhi election.  

 Rajinikanth was also named one of the most influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek. He was also named by Forbes India as the most influential Indian of the year 2010. He was named and honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2000 from the Government of India.

 Rajinikanth is conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2016 and this award is announced before the election time which also create a great expectation for his political journey.

8. KALANITHI MARAN

Kalanithi Maran (born 1964) is an Indian media baron who is the chairman and managing director of Sun Group. He owns television channels, newspapers, weeklies, FM radio stations, DTH services, movie production house and IPL Team Sun Raisers HYDERABAD.

In 1990, Maran started a monthly video (VHS) news magazine in Tamil called Poomaalai657 which was stopped in 1992. On 14 April 1993, he founded Sun TV with an investment of US$86,000 from a bank loan. Sun TV was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange on 24 April 2006 upon raising $133 million for 10% of the share capital and catapulting him into the billionaire charts. He was among the few representatives at a roundtable with the visiting then US President Bill Clinton. 

By 2010, he was the 17th richest Indian with net worth of US$4 Billion, and was the highest paid business man in India. Maran and his wife, Kavery Maran were ranked second in the list of Indian executive pay charts with a package of ₹62 crore (US$9.3 million) each for the fiscal year 2011–2012. 

He has won Young Businessman awards from CNBC and Ernst & Young, and Forbes magazine named him the "Television king of southern India".

Kalanithi Maran is the son of the former Union Minister of commerce Murasoli Maran and grand nephew of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi. His younger brother Dayanidhi Maran was also a former minister. Government investigator Central Bureau of Investigation filed charges against Kalanidhi Maran and his brother Dayanidhi Maran for fraud in the takeover of Aircel by Maxis Communications. In a status report to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on telecom, CBI said mala fide considerations and an "illegal gratification"  of ₹550 crore(US$82 million) were behind the "active intervention" of Dayanidhi in curbing the business interests of Aircel's former owner C Sivasankaran. Alleging the Marans of arm-twisting former Aircel owner, Sivasankaran, into selling Aircel to Maxis, the CBI report states that an illegal gratification of Rs 5,499,601,793 was accepted as quid pro quo through his brother Kalanithi Maran in the garb of share premium invested in Sun Direct, owned by Kalanithi Maran.

Though In May 2007, followers of M Karunanidhi's son M. K. Alagiri attacked Maran's newspaper office after a survey in the newspaper claimed that M. K. Stalin was the preferred successor to M Karunanidhi. Later in 2008, the dispute between Maran and Karunanidhi families was resolved. 

And now Kalanithi maran is an person who have great influence in the INDIA which was proved in 2015 when he solved the license cancellation for SUN NETWORK issue successfully. He is the only person in Tamil Nadu who mark his landmark in Sports, Cinema, Politics and Business.

7. U.SAGAYAM I.A.S

Ubagarampillai Sagayam(born 3 July 1962), usually referred to as U. Sagayam, is a civil servant in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India, noted for his anti-corruption activities.

Sagayam, whose office door bears a sign reading "Reject bribes, hold your head high", has repeatedly antagonized influential politicians and their supporters in Tamil Nadu. In 2011, he was appointed to oversee state elections in the Madurai district; his strict enforcement of the laws against vote-buying played a role in the change of state government. Beginning in 2012, his investigation of complaints of illegal granite-mining in the Madurai area led to charges against a number of politicians and businesses, including a mining company founded by a scion of one of Madurai's most influential political families(M.K.ALAGIRI).

Sagayam's efforts to eliminate corruption have led to his being transferred over 20 times in his two decades of public service. They have also won him a reputation for probity; in the words of a DNA correspondent, "The common man's collector has become the hero of the local folklore".

SAGAYAM AND GRANITE SCAM:

In May 2012, Sagayam investigated reports of illegal granite quarrying in the vicinity of Madurai. These activities had been noted in 2008 by a Right to Information (RTI) activist. Pursuant to his complaint, the Madras High Court had ordered an inquiry in 2009, but nothing came of it until 2010, when Tamil-language daily newspaper Dina Bhoomi ran a series of articles, implicating among others Durai Dayanidhi, Alagiri's eldest son. This led to the arrest on specious charges of the RTI activist and the Dina Bhoomi editor. The issue was brought up in the 2011 elections, and pursued after the AIADMK government was formed. 

In July 2014, a citizen activist filed a petition with the Madras High Court, seeking to rekindle the inquiry. In response, the court appointed Sagayam to the post of Special Officer-cum-Legal Commissioner, charged with the task of investigating all mining operations in Tamil Nadu, and ordered the state government to relieve him of the Science City post. The government attempted to contest the order, maintaining that the investigation was concluded; the court rejected their arguments and, in November 2014, Sagayam was duly appointed. It was suggested, however, that the state government might attempt to limit his investigation to granite operations in the Madurai area, keeping him from looking into sand mining on the beaches and along the rivers of the state.

When his legendary become viral many youngster who are tired of corrupted leaders started to support Sagayam IAS and they conduct a rally in EGMORE forcing him to join politics. Many political observers are waiting for his reply and guessed a big change in TN politics. If he enters in the politics we can expect the Delhi Aravind Kejriwal result.

Many people in the name of AGNI SIRAGUGAL collecting the support from public in social media for SAGAYAM. He became an unexpected star in the CM race.

6. SRINIVASA IYER RAMASWAMY (a) CHO

Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy called as Cho Ramaswamy is an Indian actor, comedian, character actor, editor, political satirist, playwright and dialogue writer, film director and lawyer in Tamil Nadu. He is the founder and editor of the Tamil magazine, Thuglak. His popularity in the Tamil Nadu literary circles is mainly due to his impartial assessment of political issues, and the audacity with which he publishes his viewpoints. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President of India, K. R. Narayanan. In the Rajya Sabha 12 MPs are nominated by the President of India from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in the fields of literature, science, art or social service. He served as a Rajya Sabha MP from November 1999 to November 2005.

Besides the film career of the Cho Ramaswamy, he been a chief editor of the Tamil magazine Thuglak which has its own standard in the TAMIL NADU. He also recognized has mentor for current Tamil Nadu CM J.JAYALAITHA and there are many rumours and stories are there in the political history of TAMIL NADU. 

CHO proved his influence in the present days as INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MR.MODI meet him in his house and the regular visit of J.JAYALAITHA in his home.

CHO is having influence on the Tamil Nadu by various roles like mentor for CM , editor for  THUGLAK and political critics. By his various works this man was in the top 10 influential people list.

5. vijayakanth

  Vijayaraj better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and the current Leader of the Official Opposition of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Prior to becoming a politician, he was a film actor in Tamil cinema from 1979 to 2010. He is the founder of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam and a Member of Legislative Assembly representing the constituency of Rishivandiyam. In films, he is credited with the title "Puratchi Kalaingar"(revolutionary artist) while also commonly referred to as "captain" following the success of his film Captain Prabhakaran (1991).

Though Vijayakanth is being trolled for his acting in the recent movies, he get an great fan base especially at the villages and towns in the most parts of the Tamil Nadu which lays him an great political basement to start his own political party.

He gain a consistent support for his party and after the alignment with the Panruti S.Ramachandran in 2005 the DMDK party becomes and most active and powerful party after DMK and ADMK. DMDK start to develop a great base level party members and became the third largest party in Tamil Nadu in both size and power.

DMDK aligned with ADMK in 2010 legislative election and with BJP in 2014 general election which was a great success for DMDK. By legislative election DMDK got 29 seats and became the second largest party in the assembly. Now Vijayakanth is the opposition leader in the current Assembly.

As of now (Jan 2016) DMDK didn’t form alliance with any party for 2016 election many alliance and parties like BJP, DMK, and MDMK are trying to form alliance. The strength of the DMDK makes its chief Vijayakanth to place in the top 5 list.

4. RAGhURAM RAJAN

Raghuram Govind Rajan (born 3 February 1963) is the current and the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He took charge of India's central banking institution on 5 September 2013, succeeding Duvvuri Subbarao. Rajan was chief economic adviser to India's Ministry of Finance during the previous year and chief economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2007. He is on leave of absence as a professor of finance at the graduate business school at the University of Chicago.

We are very proud to tell about this person and to place in the top 10 influential people of Tamil Nadu because he is the person who make Tamil people proud with his talent. He is the one of the person who was focused by the many economist, students, activist and educationist in the knowledge sharing platforms like QUORA. He brings many glory to the Indian Economy by focus on curbing inflation. His biggest achievement is that he successfully brought down retail inflation to 3.78% in July 2015 from 9.8% in September 2013 – the lowest since the 1990s. Wholesale inflation was down to a historic low of -4.05% in July 2015 from 6.1% in September 2013. In his first speech as RBI governor, Rajan promised banking reforms and eased curbs on foreign banking, following which Sensex rose by 333 points or 1.83%. After his first day at office, the rupee rose 2.1% against the dollar.

He frequently appears in the newspaper not only by the economic side but also social views. We can see him regularly in the whatsapp images by quoting about farmers, corporate and politicians. He also start to develop the future India by having meetings with college student and also school children. He also one of the economist who successfully predicting the future economic state of the world and organization.

If you want to see about reforms click the link http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Raghuram-Rajan

In the last term of the congress the major success was economic stabilization which done by this man. Finding odd he was the main financial advisor for planning commission in that time. For his great success this tamilian become one of the influenced person in the world.

3.SUBRAMANIYAN SWAMY

Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician from the state of Tamil Nadu. He is also an economist and a former cabinet minister. He was the President of the Janata Party. He merged his party on 11 August 2013 with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Swamy had served as a member of the Planning Commission of India and Cabinet Minister of India. He has written on foreign affairs of India dealing largely with China, Pakistan and Israel. He is also a published author.

Earlier in November 1978, Swamy was member of the Group of Eminent persons called to Geneva to prepare a report of the United Nations (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)) on Economic Co-operation between Developing countries (ECDC). Swamy also simplified trade procedures and formulated a new export strategy which became the forerunner of trade reform adopted subsequently. In 1994, Swamy was appointed as Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade by then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. This was perhaps for the first time that an Opposition Party member was given a Cabinet rank post by the ruling party. He also serves as chairman of the Board of Governors of the SCMS Group of Educational Institutions in Kerala.

       Subramanian Swamy is known as the SHERLOCK HOLMES of the INDIA for his works on the political leaders income and their scams which includes 2G scam, Jayalaitha case, Nataraja temple case etc.,

SWAMY became an active politician by Indira Gandhi’s quote on him. Swamy's career started with his involvement in the Sarvodaya movement, which was an apolitical movement but which formed the foundation of the creation of Janata Party later. The real turn in his political career came after his sacking from IIT. Liberal economic policies put forward by him didn't go well with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who discredited him as 'Santa Claus with unrealistic ideas'. He was later expelled from Indian Institute of Technology. This marked the beginning of his active political career. Staunch opponent of Indira Gandhi and right wing political party Jansangh sent him to Rajya Sabha – the upper house of Indian Parliament.

He was elected Member of Parliament 5 times between 1974 and 1999. He has twice represented the city of Mumbai North East during 1977 and 1980, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the Parliament. 

During the period of the Emergency, he fled to the United States, seeking haven with an Indian businessman in Michigan who had become the spokesperson of the opposition in the United States. 

In 1976, when the Emergency was still in force and an arrest warrant had been issued in his name, Swamy came to Parliament to attend the session and managed to escape India after the session was adjourned. This act of defiance was well received in the eyes of opposition parties. 

Swamy was one of the founding members of the Janata Party and has been its president since 1990.

We can talk about his person whole day because he had both good and bad face. Whatever Swamy is an influenced person in Tamil nadu and his influence was increased after he aligned with BJP.

He is having bright chance of winning the election even if we contested in any part of India.

He also making the alliance plans for the upcoming elections.

2. karunanidhi

Muthuvel Karunanidhi (born Dakshinamurthy) is an Indian politician who has served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on five separate occasions. He is the head of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the leader of the DMK since the death of its founder, C. N. Annadurai, in 1969. He holds the record of winning his seat in every election in which he has participated, in a political career spanning more than 60 years.In the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections, he led the DMK-led DPA(UPA and Left Parties) in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to win all 40 Lok Sabha seats. In the following 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, he was able to increase the number of seats for the DMK from 16 to 18 seats, and led the UPA in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, to win 28 seats, even with a significantly smaller coalition. He is also a playwright and screenwriter in Tamil cinema. He is called "Kalaignar" ("artist") by his supporters.Since 1975, Karunanidhi has published six volumes of his autobiography, Nenjukku Neethi (English: Justice to the Heart), in the Tamil language.

We all know about this person for many years so we are not going to discuss about his past but focusing on his present and future dominance in the fate of Tamil nadu.

Though last time DMK lose the election badly and paves way to the DMDK to be an opposing party status in the assembly, DMK is still been a second largest party in the Tamil Nadu by power and size.

Karunanidhi plays a vital role in the downfall of the DMK as a leader and father. He allows and make his family members in the main position of the party and in the assembly. As they are charged in the many scams. This makes the DMK to lose the youngsters vote in the last election. Avoiding the guidance of the experienced and effective person in the meeting also makes them to lose their influence in the Tamil Nadu.

Even though this man makes a great impact in the history of Tamil Nadu and its people and still continuing to be an important person in the Tamil Nadu politics.

Karunanidhi officially crowned his son M.K.STALIN as his successor for the party. This decision makes the great conflict in the party and created some riots in the southern part of the Tamil Nadu which also impacts DMK downfall.

DMK setting some powerful base alliance to meet the ruling AIADMK party in the upcoming election.

1.J.JAYAlalitha

Jayalalithaa Jayaram(born 24 February 1948), commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa, Jaya , is an Indian politician and the incumbent Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in office since 2015. Previously she served as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996, in 2001, from 2002 to 2006, and from 2011 to 2014. She was an actress before her entry into politics and appeared in 140 films which includes Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films. She is the general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). She is popularly referred to as Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader) by her followers.

As an actress, she had frequently worked with another actor-turned-politician, M. G. Ramachandran (MGR). This led to wide speculation that Jayalalithaa was introduced to politics by MGR. However, she has denied these claims and stated that she had entered politics by choice. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha, elected from Tamil Nadu, from 1984 to 1989. Soon after the death of MGR, Jayalalithaa proclaimed herself his political heir. She is the second female chief minister of Tamil Nadu after Janaki Ramachandran.

Jayalalithaa became the first incumbent chief minister in India to be disqualified from holding office due to conviction in adisproportionate assets case on 27 September 2014.On May 11, 2015, the Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, and she resumed office as Chief Minister on May 23. She was subsequently re-elected by the electorate of the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar (State Assembly Constituency) of North Chennai in the by-election held on 27 June 2015.

J.JAYALALITHA is the only successful woman in the Tamil Nadu politics after the Independence. She got many followers and the able to develop the brand name AMMA in Tamil Nadu even north media resemble her as AMMA.

This AMMA brand effectively worked and got into the people minds by the plans like 

1) Amma bottle

2) Amma mini bus

3) Amma 10th  and 12th book

4) Amma cement

5) Amma hotel

6) Amma housing loans

7) Amma laptop

8) Amma salt etc.,

And even her party AIADMK is recognizing as AMMA party to the people of the Tamil Nadu.

She became an image of Tamil Nadu in Indian politics. She conquered many people’s heart and now she became a most influenced person in the Tamil Nadu. 

J.Jayalalitha not have any political relationship with the BJP but her personal friendship with the Indian PM Narendra Modi helps her in the many aspect including in recent Chennai flood.

Now Jayalalitha able to became a brand mark for AIADMK without using the legacy of its founder DR.M.G.RAMACHANDRAN.

So, J.JAYALALAITHA’s political influence make her the most influential person in the Tamil Nadu.