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, a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. His mother is Dayalu Ammal. Alagiri was also a key leader for the southern part of the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) party until 2014.

Early Life and Family

M. K. Alagiri was born on January 30, 1951. His father, M. Karunanidhi, was a well-known political leader. His mother is Dayalu Ammal. Alagiri grew up learning from his father.

He completed his B.A. degree at Presidency College, Chennai in Chennai. In 1972, he married Kanthi Alagiri. They have three children: a son named Dayanidhi Azhagiri, and two daughters, Kayalvizhi and Anjugaselvi. After his marriage, Alagiri moved to Madurai and made it his home.

Role in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Party

Alagiri became a very important figure in the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) party. He moved to Madurai in 1989. Even without holding an official position, he was very influential in the Madurai area. Some senior party members were concerned about internal disagreements.

In 2001, the DMK general secretary, K. Anbazhagan, asked party members not to contact Alagiri. However, Alagiri played a big part in the party winning three special elections in 2008. One important victory was in Thirumangalam. Because of these wins, Alagiri was made the organizing secretary for the party's southern districts.

After these successes, Alagiri was chosen to run for the Madurai seat in the 2009 national elections. He won this election. Later, he became a cabinet minister in the Indian government.

There were often disagreements between supporters of Alagiri and his younger brother, M. K. Stalin. These tensions sometimes led to serious incidents. For example, a newspaper called Dinakaran published an article that seemed to favor Stalin. This led to a difficult situation.

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

Election Results

Here is a look at an election Alagiri participated in:

Time as Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Azhagiri being sworn in as a minister in 2009.

After the UPA won the 2009 Indian Parliamentary Elections, Alagiri became the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers. He won his election from the Madurai area. He received 430,688 votes. His closest opponent, P. Mohan, received 290,157 votes.

Early in his time as minister, Alagiri asked to answer questions in the Lok Sabha (India's Parliament) in Tamil. 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 industry. He suggested that fertilizer companies might be misusing government money meant to help farmers. Jena stated that Alagiri had not responded to his letters about these issues. He was concerned that companies were raising prices despite receiving government help.

The DMK party decided to leave the ruling UPA government on March 20, 2013. This decision came after many protests in Tamil Nadu. People were upset that the central government was not doing enough for Tamils in Sri Lanka. Alagiri, along with other DMK ministers, resigned from his position. After his resignation, Srikanth Jena took over as the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

See also

• Karunanidhi family