V. Senthil Balaji

V. Senthil Balaji
V. Senthil Balaji
Minister for Electricity and Prohibition & Excise (Tamil Nadu)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 28 September 2024
Preceded by	Thangam Thennarasu (Electricity); S. Muthusamy; (Prohibition & Excise);
	In office; 7 May 2021 – 16 June 2023
Chief Minister	M. K. Stalin
Preceded by	P. Thangamani
Succeeded by	Thangam Thennarasu(Electricity); S. Muthusamy; (Prohibition & Excise);
Minister Without Portfolio (Tamil Nadu)
	In office; 16 June 2023 – 12 February 2024
Minister for Transport (Tamil Nadu)
	In office; 16 May 2011 – 28 July 2015
Chief Minister	J. Jayalalithaa; O. Panneerselvam; J. Jayalalithaa
Preceded by	K. N. Nehru
Succeeded by	P. Thangamani
Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; May 2021
Constituency	Karur
	In office; May 2019 – May 2021
Constituency	Aravakurichi
	In office; November 2016 – September 2018
Constituency	Aravakurichi
	In office; May 2006 – May 2016
Constituency	Karur
Personal details
Born	21 October 1975 (age 49); Karur, Tamil Nadu, India
Political party	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1996 - 2000 & 2018-present)
Other political; affiliations	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (2000-2017); Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (2018)
Spouse	Megala Senthilbalaji
Children	1 Daughter
Education	B.Com.
Occupation	Politician Businessman

V. Senthil Balaji (born 21 October 1975) is an Indian politician who currently serves as the Electricity Minister ^[1] for the state of Tamil Nadu.

Early life

V Senthil Balaji was born on 21 October 1975 in Rameswarapatti in Karur district. He hails from an agricultural background. He has completed his high school & Higher Secondary school studies from Rameswarapatti Govt. School, Vivekananda School, Pasupathypalayam and Municipal Higher Secondary school, Karur. He entered politics at the age of 21 and was active since early 2000s.

Politics

In 1997 he began his public service as a local body member. He was the Minister for Transport of the Government of Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2015. He was dropped from cabinet in July 2015. As a cadre of Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, he was previously elected to the same Karur constituency in 2006 general elections. He was elected as a MLA from Aravakurichi constituency in 2016. After the demise of Jayalalithaa he played a key role in saving the government. When AIADMK separated into factions he stood by T. T. V. Dhinakaran. On 18 September 2017, 18 MLA's were disqualified by the speaker P. Dhanapal for their petition to the Governor Mr. Banwarilal Purohit to change the Chief Minister. He joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), in the presence of Party President M. K. Stalin on 14 December 2018. Soon after joining the party he was offered District Secretary post and later was announced as by-election candidate for Aravakurichi constituency. He was elected as a MLA on 23 May 2019 for fourth time.^[2]^[3]^[4] He serves as a member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. He won the election held in the month of April 2021.

Arrest

On 14 June 2023, Enforcement Directorate officials raided Senthil Balaji's house and other places related to him in Chennai and Coimbatore and interrogated him in relation to allegations made while he served as the transport minister in the AIADMK-led government from 2011 to 2015, prior to joining the DMK.^[5] During the raid, they arrested Balaji for allegedly laundering money and took him for questioning.^[6] Subsequently, he was sent to judicial custody until 28 June 2023.^[7]^[8] He allegedly had chest pains during this time and he had to be treated in hospital. ^[9]

V Senthil Balaji tendered his resignation on 12 February 2024, eight months after his arrest ahead of his bail plea hearing in the Madras High Court.^[10]^[11] When he was released in September 2024, then again he got minister position in same cabinet.

Ministry


Designation	Portfolio	Party	Chief Minister	To
Designation	Portfolio	Party	Chief Minister	Took office	Left office
Tamilnadu Minister of Transport	Transport, Nationalised Transport, Motor Vehicles Act	AIADMK	J.Jayalalithaa	16 May 2011	27 September 2014
			O. Panneerselvam	28 September 2014	23 May 2015
			J.Jayalalithaa	23 May 2015	28 July 2015
Tamilnadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise	Electricity, Non-Conventional Energy, Prohibition & Excise, Molasses	DMK	M.K.Stalin	07 May 2021	16 June 2023
Tamilnadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise	Electricity, Non-Conventional Energy, Prohibition & Excise, Molasses	DMK	M.K.Stalin	28 September 2024	Incumbent

Electoral performance

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Elections

Elections	Constituency	Party	Result	Vote percentage	Opposition Candidate	Opposition Party	Opposition vote percentage
2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Karur	AIADMK	Won	47.00	Vasuki Murugesan	DMK	43.84
2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Karur	AIADMK	Won	61.18	S.Jothimani	INC	34.10
2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Aravakurichi	AIADMK	Won	53.51	K. C. Palanisamy	DMK	39.13
2019 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by-elections	Aravakurichi	DMK	Won	56.45	V. V. Senthil Nathan	AIADMK	34.54
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Karur	DMK	Won	49.31	M. R. Vijayabhaskar	AIADMK	43.28