Mano Thangaraj is an Indian politician from the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) 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 (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

(DMK). Since May 2016, he has been representing

Padmanabhapuram Padmanabhapuram () is a town and a municipality near Thuckalay in Kanyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 21,342. Padmanabhapuram was the capital of Travancore state in the past. In 17 ...

constituency in the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding office ...

. He is the Minister of Milk and Dairy Development of Tamil Nadu.

Early life and education

He was born on June 1, 1967, to Thangaraj Nadar from Karungal in Kanyakumari district. He completed his schooling at LMS School,

Palliyadi Palliyadi is a panchayat town in Kanniyakumari district in Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil is the official language spoken; It has been a centre of life for many centuries and have been predominantly occupied by wealthy aristocrat Christian N ...

, and studied at

Nesamony Memorial Christian College Nesamony Memorial Christian College is an institution of arts and science in Marthandam, the second busiest town in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. The college was run by Kanyakumari Diocese of the Church of South India. It is one of ...

(NMCC) (in

Marthandam Marthandam is a major trade centre in Kuzhithurai municipality across National Highway (NH 47) in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Formerly known as Thoduvetty (another name for the Marthandam market region), it was a portion ...

Kanyakumari Kanyakumari (Tamil; / kəɳjɑkʊmɑɾiː/; referring to Devi Kanya Kumari, officially known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin) is a town and a municipality in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the ...

), where he served as the student union chairman. This period sparked his interest in politics. He earned an MA in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from

Annamalai University The Annamalai University (AU) is a public state university in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The sprawling campus offers courses of higher education in arts, science, engineering, management, humanities, agriculture, and physical education. ...

in May 1997.

Activism

In 1988, he protested against drawing water from the Pechiparai Reservoir for the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP).

Politics

Civic Body Member (1996-2006)

He served as the district panchayat chairman from 1996 to 2006.

Ministry

Electoral performance

Ministership (2021-)

GITEX 2022

He participated in GITEX 2022 at Dubai as a representative of Ministry for Information Technology & Digital Services, India for

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

. He met a lot of founders, CEOs, top leadership of Indian Startups at GITEX, Dubai, during “Meet Indian Startups” event organised by the Consulate General of India, Dubai on 12 October 2022.

Philanthropy

He owns the Good Vision Charitable Trust which was working on women, children and sanitation related issues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thangaraj, Mano 1967 births Living people Politicians from Kanyakumari district Indian Tamil people Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Tamil Nadu MLAs 2016–2021 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2021–2026 Tamil Nadu ministers