M. K. Alagiri facts for kids

Quick facts for kids M. K. Alagiri
Alagiri in June 2009
Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
In office 28 May 2009 – 21 March 2013
President	Pratibha Patil Pranab Mukherjee
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Ram Vilas Paswan
Succeeded by	Srikant Kumar Jena, MoS (I/C)
Constituency	Madurai
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1 June 2009 – 18 May 2014
Leader of the House	Pranab Mukherjee Sushilkumar Shinde
Preceded by	P. Mohan
Succeeded by	R. Gopalkrishnan
Constituency	Madurai
Personal details
Born	Muthuvel Karunanidhi Alagiri (1951-01-30) 30 January 1951 (age 74) Madras, Madras State, India (present-day Chennai, Tamil Nadu)
Political party	Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (until 2000 & 2001 - 2014)
Spouse	Kanthi Alagiri (m. 1972)
Relations	• M. K. Selvi (younger sister) • M. K. Stalin (younger brother) • M. K. Tamilarasu (younger brother)
Children	Dayanidhi Azhagiri Anjugaselvi Kayalvizhi
Parents	Karunanidhi Dayalu Ammal
Residences	Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

Muthuvel Karunanidhi Alagiri (born 30 January 1951), known as M. K. Alagiri, is an Indian politician. He served as a Cabinet Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers for India. This role was from May 2009 to March 2013. He is the second son of M. Karunanidhi, who was a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. His mother is Dayalu Ammal.

His Early Life

M. K. Alagiri was born on January 30, 1951. His father, M. Karunanidhi, was a well-known political leader. Alagiri's father named him after his own mentor, Pattukkottai Alagiri. He grew up learning from his father.

Alagiri married Kanthi Alagiri on December 10, 1972. After their marriage, they moved to Madurai. They have three children: two daughters named Kayalvizhi and Anjugaselvi, and a son named Dayanidhi Azhagiri. M. K. Alagiri studied at Presidency College, Chennai and earned a B.A. degree.

His Political Journey

M. K. Alagiri has been an important figure in the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) party. This is a major political party in Tamil Nadu, India. His younger brother, M. K. Stalin, is also a prominent leader in the party.

Working with the DMK Party

Alagiri moved to Madurai in 1989. For a long time, he did not hold an official position in the DMK party. However, he was very influential in the Madurai area. Some senior party members were concerned about disagreements within the party. In 2001, the DMK general secretary, K. Anbazhagan, asked party members not to contact Alagiri.

In 2008, Alagiri played a key role in the DMK winning three special elections. One important win was in Thirumangalam. The party won by a large number of votes there. Because of these wins, Alagiri was made the organizing secretary for the party in the southern districts. After these successes, he was chosen to run for the Madurai seat in the 2009 national elections. He won this election and later became a cabinet minister.

There were often disagreements between supporters of Alagiri and his brother Stalin. These tensions became very noticeable. For example, there were problems at the Madurai office of a newspaper called Dinakaran. This newspaper is part of the Sun TV group. The newspaper had published articles that seemed to favor Stalin more than Alagiri.

M. K. Alagiri was removed from the DMK party on January 24, 2014. He was no longer a member or the Secretary for the South Zone.

Serving as a Minister

M. K. Alagiri taking his oath as a Cabinet Minister in May 2009.

After the 2009 Indian Parliamentary Elections, M. K. Alagiri became the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers. This ministry helps manage important resources like fertilizers for the country. He won his election from the Madurai area. He received 430,688 votes. His closest opponent, P. Mohan, received 290,157 votes.

When he first became a minister, Alagiri asked to answer questions in Tamil in the Lok Sabha (India's parliament). Usually, ministers answer in English or Hindi. The State Minister for the ministry, Srikanth Kumar Jena, often answered questions for Alagiri in parliament.

In January 2013, Srikanth Kumar Jena raised concerns about the fertilizer companies. He suggested that some companies might not be using government support correctly. He also noted that fertilizer prices kept going up. There were discussions about these issues in the ministry.

On March 20, 2013, the DMK party decided to leave the ruling UPA government. This decision came after many protests in Tamil Nadu. People were concerned that the central government was not doing enough for Tamils in Sri Lanka. Alagiri resigned from his minister position along with other DMK ministers. There was a brief discussion because Alagiri did not immediately join the group of DMK MPs to resign. Some people thought he was showing disagreement with his father's decision. After his resignation, Srikanth Jena became the new Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Elections He Contested

See also

• Karunanidhi family