Nilgiris Lok Sabha constituency: DMK's A Raja wins with over 4 lakh votes

He was running against union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate L Murugan.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Andimuthu Raja won from Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris constituency on Tuesday with 4,73,212 votes. He won with a margin of 2,40,585 votes.

In the constituency, which is reserved for scheduled castes, there were four candidates competing this time. (File)

He was running against union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate L Murugan.

In the constituency, which is reserved for scheduled castes, there were four candidates competing this time. They are Raja, Murugan, Lokesh Tamilselvan from AIADMK, and A Jayakumar from Naam Tamilar Katchi.

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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Raja won against AIADMK candidate M Thiyagarajan by over 200,000 votes. He also won this seat in 2009 but lost it in 2014.

Raja began his political journey during his last year of college by joining the DMK students' wing. He progressed rapidly within the party. When Vaiko was expelled from DMK, Raja was suggested by Rajya Sabha MP S Siva Subramaniam and KN Nehru to stand for the DMK in the Perambalur constituency for the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. He won the election and became a Member of Parliament.

He has fought Lok Sabha elections seven times since 1996 and has only lost twice — once in 1998 and again in 2014. He has served as Tamil Nadu’s cabinet minister twice.

Raja is a prominent figure in the DMK party, known for his outspoken nature. He has a strong association with the party's ideology and is a supporter of social reformer E V R Periyar.

Raja entered Parliament at the age of 33, representing the Perambalur constituency.

He served as a Union minister under different governments, including the United Front and those led by A B Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

Raja faced allegations in the 2G scam during his tenure as telecom minister in the UPA-I government but was cleared of all charges in 2017.

He has won elections several times and is known for his bold speeches and controversial remarks on various topics.