When the DMK got split, he was among the founding-members of the AIADMK in 1972.
AIADMK's Munisamy Thambidurai and K Venugopal are being seen as among likely representatives of their party in the Cabinet if the Tamil Nadu party joins the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. At least two members of the JD(U) are also likely to join Cabinet. In the latest development, a slew of ministers in the Modi government--Uma Bharti, Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajiv Pratap Rudy among others -- have resigned before the cabinet reshuffle which could happen any day.
Lok Sabha deputy speaker Thambidurai is likely to be inducted as a cabinet minister if AIADMK decides to join NDA. Thambidurai played a key role in the merger of AIADMK by being a facilitator between the Centre and party factions led by O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Thambidurai started his political career with the erstwhile united DMK in 1965 at the age of 18. While at college, Thambidurai participated in the anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 and courted arrest. Even in 2017, his passion for language parity remains the same. In the month of August 2017, he while speaking in Lok Sabha, demanded that all Indian languages be called national and that official status be granted to all Indian languages.
When the DMK got split, he was among the founding-members of the AIADMK in 1972. Thambidurai became an MLA from Erode in 1977. He was first elected as a Member of Parliament to the 8th Lok Sabha in 1984 from Dharmapuri. He also got elected to the 9th, 12th, 15th and 16th Lok Sabha. He has been serving as the leader of AIADMK in the Lok Sabha since 2009.
He had served as the Cabinet Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and as the Minister of State of Surface Transport from March 1998 to April 1999. He had also served as the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1985 to 1989.
K Venugopal is the another leader from AIADMK who is likely to get a berth in the cabinet. He has largely been non-controversial and remains a staunch supporter of E Palaniswamy.
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