Loganathan Murugan (born 29 May 1977) is an Indian politician and advocate currently serving as

minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs,

Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying () is a ministry of the Government of India responsible for the administration of matters related to fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying. The ministry came into existence on 31 May ...

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 Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

unit of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

Personal and early life

Murugan was born into a Telugu-speaking, Scheduled Caste Arunthathiyar family. He was born to L Varudammal, Loganathan on 29 May 1977 in Konur of

Namakkal district Namakkal District is one of the 38 districts (an districts of Tamil Nadu, administrative district) in the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, India. The district was bifurcated from Salem District with Namakkal city as headqua ...

of Tamil Nadu. Murugan did his law degree at Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law College, Chennai and got his master's degree and PhD at

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

. Inspired by

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

ideology during his college days in 1997, he joined the

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

, and later the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

. He has practiced law for at least 15 years also serving as the Standing Counsel to the Government of India at

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

. As a lawyer He has appeared in various cases on behalf of the BJP. He is fluent in English,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and Telugu.

Political career

Early political career

Murugan served as the national general secretary of the scheduled caste (SC) division of the RSS while he was in the RSS. In the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, he contested from the Rasipuram seat on a BJP ticket but got only 1800 votes. He served as the in charge of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

for some time. He served as the vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) from 2017 to 2020. Murugan later resigned his post in the NCSC before one year of his term's end and met senior BJP leaders. During the agitations against

NEET A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...

in Tamil Nadu, Murugan claimed that there were 'external forces' in the Suicide of S. Anitha and said that NEET is required. Murugan claimed that there had been an increase of

love jihad Love jihad (or Romeo jihad) is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory promoted by right-wing Hindutva activists. The conspiracy theory purports that Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam by means such as seduction, feigning love ...

in Tamil Nadu in January 2020.

BJP state president

On 12 March 2020, he was made chief of the BJP Tamil Nadu unit. He is the first from the Dalit community to hold the post. Murugan was supportive of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. He was not very close to the leaders of Tamil Nadu BJP but was close with the National BJP leaders. Murugan attempted to lead the BJP's Vel Yatra twice in 2020 to build support for

politics in Tamil Nadu, but was arrested both times. Chief Minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy said Vel yatra is a move by BJP to foment communal disharmony. He called the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest in Delhi as "false propaganda" in December 2020. He contested the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly elections from Dharapuram and lost to DMK's N. Kayalvizhi by 1,393 votes.

Union minister

On 7 July 2021, Murugan was sworn in as the

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the

and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting during the Cabinet reshuffle. Murugan is the first from the Arunthathiyar community to be made a Union minister since Independence. He had 21 criminal cases against him in August 2021, the most of any minister in the Modi's cabinet. Murugan claimed there were "vested interests" behind the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest in northern states in October 2021. He is member of

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

representing

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Positions held

Ministry

Elections contested

Tamilnadu State Legislative Assembly Elections

Lok Sabha Elections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murugan, L. 1977 births Living people Narendra Modi ministry Union ministers from Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Tamil Nadu