Dr L Murugan, the BJP face in Tamil Nadu, was inducted into PM Narendra Modi’s ministry in a major reshuffle on Wednesday. For the 44-year-old leader from Tamil Nadu, this is the second promotion in a year. In March 2020, L Murugan, who belongs to the Dalit community, was picked to lead the state’s BJP unit just ahead of the assembly elections.

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Murugan’s interest in politics started during his college days when he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He got his undergraduate degree in law and a masters in International Law and International Organisations from the University of Madras.

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 This leader from Tamil Nadu has earlier served as vice chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and has over 15 years of experience as a lawyer. Also, since BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, Murugan has been the standing counsel to the government of India at Madras High Court.

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Murugan’s earlier trysts with electoral politics did not meet with success as he lost from Rasipuram constituency in Namakkal district in the 2011 assembly elections. In the 2021 elections, he lost in the Dharapuram constituency by a margin of 812 votes to DMK’s N. Kayalvizhi.

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Although the BJP did not make a mark in the recently-held Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Murugan stood out with high-decibel Vetri Vel Yatra. The BJP, however,  won four seats out of the 20 that it contested, the highest ever in the state.