H Raja | |
---|---|
Passenger Amenities Committee, Ministry of Railways (India) [1] | |
Assumed office November, 2014 | |
Member of Legislative Assembly | |
In office 2001–2006 | |
Preceded by | N. Sundaram |
Succeeded by | N. Sundaram |
Constituency | Karaikudi |
Personal details | |
Born | 29 September 1957 [4] [5] Melattur,Thanjavur district,India |
Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Parent |
|
Residence(s) | Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India |
Alma mater | Madurai Kamaraj University |
Profession | Chartered Accountant, Politician |
Hariharan Raja Sharma [2] [7] [3] also known as H. Raja is an Indian politician. He started his political-social life as an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) promoter. [8] He was a MLA representing the Karaikudi constituency in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006. [5] He was one of the national secretaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2014 to 2020. [9]
H Raja is known for his controversial statements [10] [11] [12] and statements against other religions. [13] [14]
H. Raja was born as Hariharan Raja Sharma [2] in a village called Melattur near Thanjavur to Hariharan Sharma and Lalitha. [15] [6] [16] His father Hariharan Sharma who was also an active RSS member went to jail when RSS was banned in 1948. His father worked as a professor in Alagappa University and died at the age of 88 in October 2017. H Raja published the biggest Tamil-Sanskrit dictionary with over 45,000 words compiled by his father after his demise. [6] [17]
By profession, Raja is a chartered accountant. [18]
H. Raja was a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist before he joined the BJP in 1989. [5] He assumed several roles in BJP including district convener in 1991, followed by state secretary, state general secretary and then, national secretary in 2014.[ citation needed ]
Raja unsuccessfully contested in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. [5] Raja was given a BJP candidate seat from Sivaganga in 1993 and lost. [19] He was elected as an MLA of the Karaikudi constituency from 2001 to 2006. Raja lost in the state assembly elections from Thyagarayanagar constituency in 2006. [19] H Raja was the BJP candidate from Sivaganga constituency in the 2014 Indian general elections, but lost to AIADMK's PR Senthilnathan. [20]
In the 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Raja contested from Alandur constituency and lost. [19] In February 2016, Raja was appointed as the chairman of Passenger Amenities Committee. [21] The committee addresses the grievances of the passengers and ensures cleanliness, hygiene and safety of the passengers. [22] In 2017, the committee approved the printing of passenger train tickets in regional languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati and Odia. [23]
H. Raja contested in Bharat Scouts and Guides (Tamil Nadu) in 2017 for the post of president and managed to secure only 52 of the 286 votes polled (18.18%) and lost against P. Mani who got 234 votes (81.82%). However Raja refused to accept his defeat and said the election has to be countermanded. [24]
In September 2019, the people of the Veppur village in Karur district along with both DMK and AIADMK members printed and pasted posters across the village opposing H Raja's arrival for the upcoming Vinayagar Chathurthi festival fearing possibility of communal violence that could be caused due to his statements. On the day of Vinayagar Chathurthi, the police of the village imposed 144 to prevent the entry of H. Raja in the village. [25] [26]
He was a candidate for the Lok Sabha in the 2019 election but lost to Karti Chidambaram. [27] He was removed from his post as BJP national secretary on September 26, 2020. [9] [28]
Raja contested from Karaikudi in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election and lost to INC candidate S Mangudi. [29] After the election, the BJP Sivangangai district president and many senior executives resigned in protest against H Raja and over 90 BJP functionaries threatened to resign alleging highhandedness and mismanagement of party funds by Raja. [30] The cadres alleged that H Raja hasn't spent the party funds from the BJP but has been constructing a new house in at a budget of ₹4 crore and a farmhouse, and questioned the source of money. [31] The BJP district president said that he feared that Raja might cause harm to his family members through the BJP district vice president. [32]
The Indian Express reported that H Raja has a history of speaking against other religions, inciting communal disharmony and making inflammatory speeches. [14] [33] Deccan Herald reported that H Raja has a custom of labelling everyone who questions the BJP, the RSS, or Narendra Modi as "anti-Indian" and infusing a communal tone into every incident. [13]
The Director General of Police (DGP) filed a case against H. Raja in October 2014 for making inflammatory public speeches against Jesus, Muslims, Christians and Periyar in a meeting organized by the 'Hindu Dharma protection movement' in January 2014. [15] [34] [35] Earlier various political groups and organizations filed a complaint to the DGP asking to take action against Raja for claiming that "Christians and Muslims are not Tamil people" in the meeting, where the audience responded with statements such as "beat them, kill them". The complainants said such speeches had created communal violence before. [36] Later, Raja sought to ban Burqas for Muslim students and claimed they use it to cheat in exams. His statements led to protests by Muslims groups demanding action but no action was taken against him. [15]
The Madras High Court has directed the Chennai police to register an FIR against him in October 2017 and investigate H Raja's statement which the complainant claimed could instigate communal riots, when H Raja falsely claimed that an attack on a man is done by Muslim outfits. [37] [38] [39] In October 2017, H. Raja claimed that actor Vijay is a Christian and claimed that is the reason for the criticism of GST in his film and his hate for Modi. [40] Posting a photo of actor Vijay's voter's ID and official letterhead which showed his full name and indicated that Vijay is a Christian and said "Truth is bitter". [41] Many people claimed that Vijay's religion is irrelevant to the controversy. [42]
On March 22, 2018, the Madras High court requested the Chennai police to check his mental health after a lawyer accused him of speaking to create violence and communal disharmony. [43] [44] On March 6, 2018, A remark was posted from the verified Facebook page of BJP National Secretary H. Raja, stating, "Who is Lenin? What is his connection to India? What is the connection of communists to India? Lenin's statue was destroyed in Tripura. Today Lenin's statue, tomorrow Tamil Nadu's EVR Ramaswami's statue”. Raja blamed his Facebook administrator and said he had removed him and later apologised. [45] The post was soon deleted. [46] After MDMK leader Vaiko began criticising Narendra Modi, Raja threatened Vaiko claiming that his "safe return" home could not be assured. [16] [47] H Raja in September 2018, accused AIDMK MP A Arunmozhithevan of encroaching land belonging to the temples, Arunmozhithevan challenged to prove the allegations and claimed that Raja is mentally affected and seeking to created communal tensions in the state. [48] [49] Later, around 500 students of Thiru Vi Ka college blocked roads demanding action against Raja for his habit of making derogatory statements. The Central Crime branch registered cases against Raja. [50]
H. Raja called DMK MP Kanimozhi an illegitimate child of M. Karunanidhi in April 2018. Kanimozhi said that she would not respond to him. [51] The incident created a widespread agitation by the DMK and other political parties. The Karumathampatti police booked him on defamatory charges after five months. [52] On September 2, 2020, H Raja falsely claimed in his social media post that a murder of a man was committed by Muslims, since then many other popular BJP verified handles amplified with #HindusInDanger hashtag. [53] Tamil Nadu Police clarified that it was a case of personal enmity where the ones involved in this crime belonged to different religious backgrounds. [54] [55] Raja statements during an interview in September 2021 were condemned by the Chennai Press Club, Centre of Media Persons for Change [56] after he called journalists as "presstitutes". [57] Journalists and activists asked the media to boycott Raja's meetings in the future. [58]
On October 22, 2018, Raja apologised to Madras High Court after he was caught on camera abusing the police and the higher judiciary with derogatory words. [59] The video showed Raja abusing the Madras High Court and the police because he was not permitted to enter a communally sensitive area and the Hindu Munnani was not permitted erect a stage on the road near a mosque. Raja was heard accusing the police officers of being "corrupt" and "anti-Hindu," and claiming that they were on the payrolls of Christian and Muslim organisations. [10] [60] [61] Initially, he claimed the video was fake and later he said that it happened in a fit of rage before appearing against the judges of the Madras high court. [62] The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in January 2020 directed the Thirumayam police to file a final report on the investigation into the incident. [63] The Court granted additional time of two months to the Thirumayam Police to file a final report after the police requested it in January 2020. [64] Raja sought anticipatory bail in July 2020 after the police filed a chargesheet. [65] The court dismissed his plea in the same month citing that Raja should appear before the Judicial Magistrate. [66]
H. Raja had represented as MLA of Karaikudi in the Tamil Nadu Assembly from 2001 to 2006. [67]
Year | Election | Party | Constituency | Result | Votes gained | Vote % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | 2001 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election | Bharatiya Janata Party | Karaikudi | Won | 54,093 | 48.40% |
2006 | 2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election | Bharatiya Janata Party | Alandur | Lost | 9,298 | 3.27% [68] |
2016 | 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election | Bharatiya Janata Party | Thyagaraya Nagar | Lost | 19,888 | 14.01% [69] |
2021 | 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election | Bharatiya Janata Party | Karaikudi | Lost | 54,365 | 25.59% [70] |
H. Raja electoral performances in the Indian general elections (Lok Sabha).
Year | Election | Party | PC Name | Result | Votes gained | Vote % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | 13th Lok Sabha | Bharatiya Janata Party | Sivaganga | Lost | 2,22,267 | 36.34%[ citation needed ] | |
2014 | 16th Lok Sabha | Bharatiya Janata Party | Sivaganga | Lost | 1,33,763 | 13.02% | |
2019 | 17th Lok Sabha | Bharatiya Janata Party | Sivaganga | Lost | 2,33,860 | 21.56% [12] | |
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 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 minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. The party is adhering to the policies of socialism and secularism based on the principles of C. N. Annadurai (Anna) collectively coined as Annaism by M.G.R. The party has won a seven-time majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry, where it is currently the main opposition.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He is popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Artist) and Mutthamizh Arignar for his contributions to Tamil literature. He had the longest intermittent tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with 6,863 days in office. He was also a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party. Karunanidhi has the record of never losing an election to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won 13 times since his first victory in 1957. Before entering politics, he worked in the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter. He also made contributions to Tamil literature, having written stories, plays, novels, and a multiple-volume memoir. Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018 at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after a series of prolonged, age-related illnesses.
Karaikudi is the largest city in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Karaikudi Urban Agglomoration is the 21st largest urban area of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of the area commonly referred to as "Chettinad" and has been declared a City Municipal Corporation by the Government of Tamil Nadu, on account of the palatial houses built with limestone called Kaarai veedu. For this reason, the place is sometimes called Kaarai Nagar locally. The newly formed Karaikudi Municipal Corporation spreads about 94.31 km2 (36.41 sq mi) which undergoes major developments as part of Government Schemes.
Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK), literally meaning Hindu People's Party, also pronounced as Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK), is a right-wing, Hindu nationalist party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. It was established on 20 November 1916 in Victoria Public Hall in Madras by Dr C. Natesa Mudaliar and co-founded by T. M. Nair, P. Theagaraya Chetty and Alamelu Mangai Thayarammal as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahminical representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organisation to represent the non-Brahmins in Madras and is seen as the start of the Dravidian Movement.
Tholkappiyan Thirumavalavan, better known as Thol. Thirumavalavan is a political leader, scholar and activist from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is a Member of Parliament from Chidambaram. Leader and President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. He rose to prominence in the 1990s as a bahujan leader, and formally entered politics in 1999. His political platform centres on ending caste-based discrimination and consequently the caste system. He has also expressed support for Tamil nationalist movements in Sri Lanka.
Sattanathapuram Venkataraman Shekher is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, politician and also a playwright in Tamil-language plays. In 2006, he was elected as an MLA for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) from Mylapore. He is the founder of Federation of Brahmin associations of South India (FEBAS).
Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses itself in the form of linguistic purism, linguistic nationalism, Social equality and Tamil Renaissance.
Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 39 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. Its Tamil Nadu Parliamentary Constituency number is 31.
Social Democratic Party of India, popularly known as SDPI, is a radical Islamist, fundamentalist Indian political party founded on 21 June 2009 in New Delhi. It is the political wing of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI).
Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami, often referred to by his initials E.P.S., is an Indian politician who is the current leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He served as the seventh chief minister of Tamil Nadu, from 2017 to 2021. He has been the General Secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) since 28 March 2023. Previously, Palaniswami has served as the interim general secretary (2022–23), joint co-ordinator (2017–22) and headquarters secretary (2016–22) of AIADMK.
R. S. Raja Kannappan, formerly known as S. Kannappan, is an Indian politician and Minister for Backward Classes Welfare and Higher Education. He also served as the Minister for Khadi and Village Industries from 2022 to 2023, Minister of Transport, Nationalised Transport, Motor Vehicles Act in the period 2021- March 2022 and also former Minister of Public Works, Highways and Electricity during 1991–1996. He joined the party DMK in February 2020.
Reservation policy in Tamil Nadu is a system of affirmative action that provides historically disadvantaged groups representation in education and employment. Reservations in the state rose from 41 percent in 1954 to 69 percent in 1990.
A. Arunmozhithevan is an Indian politician. He is currently serving as Member Of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for Bhuvanagiri constituency since 2021. He was a Member of Parliament elected from Tamil Nadu, elected to the Lok Sabha from Cuddalore constituency as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in 2014 election.
Tamilisai Soundararajan is an Indian politician belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party. She served as the second Governor of Telangana, and also served as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 18 February 2021 to 18 March 2024. She was the National Secretary and Tamil Nadu State Unit President of the BJP prior to this appointment.
Vanathi Srinivasan (/ʋaːnati/) is an Indian politician and a lawyer. She has practiced law in Madras High Court since 1993. She is a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Coimbatore South constituency. She currently serves as National President of the Women's Wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She is member of Central Election Committee of Bharatiya Janata Party since 2022.
Ponnusamy Ayyakannu is an activist, lawyer and farmer and the chief of the Desiya Thenidhiya Nathigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam. He led the 2017 Tamil Nadu farmers' protest against the central government at New Delhi, demanding the agricultural loan in cooperative banks to be abandoned.
Loganathan Murugan is an Indian politician and advocate currently serving as Minister of State in the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. On 7 July 2021, he was made a Union Minister of State prior to which he was the state president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Maridhas Malaichamy, known by his YouTube channel Maridhas Answers, is a right-wing YouTuber and social media influencer from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. He promotes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through his social media posts.
{{cite news}}
: |first=
has generic name (help)