Tamilisai Soundararajan (born 2 June 1961) is an Indian politician belongs to

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 ...

. She served as the second

Governor of Telangana The governor of Telangana is the nominal head and representative of the president of India in the state of Telangana. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. Since 31 July 2024, Jishnu Dev Varma is the Governor ...

, and also served as

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (formerly known as "Pondicherry") is a Union Territory of India. Governance and administration of the territory fall under the federal authority. List of chief governing officers Commissioners * Fra ...

(Additional charge) from 18 February 2021 to 18 March 2024. She was the National Secretary and

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 ...

State Unit President of the BJP prior to this appointment. Tamilisai Soundararajan resigned from the posts as Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry on 18 March 2024 and rejoined BJP in the presence of Tamil Nadu BJP President , Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State L. Murugan on 20 March 2024.

Personal life and education

She was born in

Kaliyakkavilai Kaliyakkavilai is a town panchayat in Kanyakumari district in the Indian state of 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 Indi ...

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 ...

on 2 June 1961. Her father

Kumari Ananthan Harikrishnan Nadar Ananthakrishnan (19 March 1933 – 9 April 2025), popularly known as Kumari Ananthan, was an Indian politician who was leader of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. He was Perumthalivar Kamarajar awardee of the year in 2021. ...

, was a former Member of Parliament and a senior Indian National Congress leader in Tamil Nadu. Whereas, her husband, Soundararajan, is a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

. She graduated from

Ethiraj College for Women Ethiraj College for Women is an arts and science college for women in Chennai, India, managed by the Ethiraj College Trust. It was founded in 1948 by the barrister V. L. Ethiraj of Vellore. History Chairmen Source: * V. L. Ethiraj (1948–60 ...

, pursued her MBBS at

Madras Medical College Madras Medical College (MMC) is a public medical college located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1835, it is one of the oldest medical colleges in India, as well as in Asia. History The Government General Hospital was established ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and her

obstetrics and gynaecology Obstetrics and gynaecology (also spelled as obstetrics and gynecology; abbreviated as Obst and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...

qualifications at Dr. MGR Medical University,

. She was trained in

sonology Sonology is a neologism used to describe the study of sound in a variety of disciplines. In medicine, the term is used in the field of magingto describe the practice of medical ultrasonography. According to some scholars, sonology may represent a ...

and

FET The field-effect transistor (FET) is a type of transistor that uses an electric field to control the current through a semiconductor. It comes in two types: junction FET (JFET) and metal-oxide-semiconductor FET (MOSFET). FETs have three termi ...

therapy in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Prior to political commitment she worked as an assistant professor at Ramachandra Medical College,

for 5 years. She has two children. In recognition of her dedicated service to the society and general public and promoting gender equality women empowerment, she was awarded “ International Rising Star of the Year – 2018” by multi ethnic advisory task force, USA operating under US Congressman Danny K. Davis.

Political career

Tamilisai Soundararajan became interested in politics from childhood, having been brought up in a political family. She was elected as a student leader during her studies at

. She served the Tamil Nadu state BJP unit in various capacities starting from South Chennai District Medical Wing Secretary in 1999, State General Secretary Medical Wing in 2001, All India Co-Convenor (Medical Wing For Southern States) in 2005, State General Secretary in 2007, State Vice-President in 2010 and elevated as National Secretary, All India BJP in 2013. She was appointed the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

on 1 September 2019 by the order of the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

and currently is also 1st woman to hold the office of the state. She took charge as Governor of Telangana on 9 September 2019. She was given additional charge of

Puducherry (union territory) Puducherry, also known as Pondicherry, is a union territory of India, consisting of four small geographically unconnected districts. It was formed out of four territories of former French India, namely Puducherry district, Pondichéry (now Pud ...

on 16 February 2021 and is fifth woman to hold the office of the Union Territory. During the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

she visited healthcare workers in hospitals and encouraged vaccination. Tamilisai Soundararajan has lost in all her attempts at becoming an MP or MLA to date, having contested two Assembly elections and Parliament elections unsuccessfully. In the

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...

, she lost against Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, daughter of former

chief minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de ...

M. Karunanidhi from

Thoothukkudi Thoothukudi (formerly called Tuticorin) is a port industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city is capital and headquarters of the district. Ac ...

. She extensively campaigned in parliament and assembly elections across the state.

Media

She conducted a programme promoting the oratory skills for students and children, which was broadcast on the Tamil channel

Raj TV Raj TV is a Tamil language Indian general entertainment channel based in Chennai, India, which was launched on 14 October 1994. Rajtv became as the second most popular channel in Tamil. It is available through digital and mobile entertainment ...

for more than 10 years. She conducted a weekly programme for women in

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

Channel which was aired as Magalir Panchayat (Women's Court) for over 5 years. She participated in several political debates against other political leaders including Sun TV,

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...

Times Now Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters. It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...

and various local channels.

Elections Contested

Lok Sabha Elections

Legislative Assembly Elections

Electoral performance

Positions

Women's rights

Tamilisai Soundararajan is a supporter of the #metoo movement and has emphasised that any woman who had faced sexual harassment should get justice.

Temple management

Tamilisai Soundararajan has asserted that temples must be managed by committees formed of devotees of the temple and consist of theists.

Telangana Governor

Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan was sworn in as the first woman Governor of Telangana in the year 2019, replacing the post held by E.S.L. Narasimhan. She's the second governor of the State of Telangana, which was formed on 2 June 2014. She's the youngest among all state governors. To explore the resources among alumni, an online portal called 'Chancellor Connect' was created.

As a Governor

Raj Bhavan under Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, in association with Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE), instituted 'Chancellor's Awards' for best teachers, best research, and best university in academic social responsibility. Dr. Tamilisai organised meetings in association with the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, to create a detailed action plan for formulating an appropriate nutrition intervention program for Telangana's tribal communities. In April 2023, the Telangana Government filed a writ petition in the

supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

against Tamilisai Soundararajan for failing to provide her assent for 10 bills nearly seven months after the state legislature had passed them. Tamilisai Soundararajan resigned from both posts Telangana Governor and Puducherry Lieutenant-Governor on 18 March 2024 ahead of 2024 Loksabha Elections. She contested in the 2024 Indian general elections from Chennai South constituency in

Lt. Governor of Puducherry

Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan was sworn in as Lt. Governor of Puducherry (additional charge ) on 18 February 2021. Chief Justice of Madras High court Justice Sanjeeb Banerjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to her. Tamilisai took the oath in Tamil and tendered her resignation on 18 March 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soundararajan, Tamilisai 1961 births 20th-century Indian medical doctors 21st-century Indian medical doctors 21st-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Tamil Nadu Governors of Telangana Indian women medical doctors Lieutenant governors of Puducherry Living people People from Kanyakumari district Women state governors of India Women union territory lieutenant governors and administrators of India