Karate R. Thiagarajan

Karate R. Thiagarajan is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). He was part of the AIADMK and congress before joining the BJP in February 2021. He was the 38th Mayor of Chennai in Tamil Nadu from October 2002 to October 2006. Thiagarajan is also a karate practitioner, and holds a black belt in the martial art.^[2]

Karate R. Thiagarajan
46th Mayor of Chennai
In office October 2002 – October 2006
Preceded by	M.K. Stalin
Succeeded by	M. Subramaniam
Personal details
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party[1]
Other political affiliations	Tamil Maanila Congress (1996-1998), AIADMK (2001-2005) Indian National Congress (1986-1996,1998-2001 and from 2006 -2021)

Karate association of India

He was the president of Karate Association of India one of the two bodies running Karate in India and is involved in a dispute with All India Karate- do Federation.^[3] He was earlier the President of the All India Karate- do Federation but was removed for alleged misappropriation of funds and Sanjay Singh became the President.^[4]

Political career

Thiagarajan was elected to the Chennai Corporation as an AIADMK councillor and he became the deputy Mayor in-charge of Corporation of Chennai and after M. K. Stalin who had been reelected Mayor in 2001 was removed in 2002 and Thiagarajan who was the deputy Mayor became the de facto mayor and in-charge of Corporation of Chennai.^[5][6] He was an instrumental in filing cases in the construction of flyovers case.^[7] He was expelled from the AIADMK in 2005 and there was apprehension that he may be arrested over allegations relating to with irregularities in the allotment of space for hoardings. Thiagarajan went into hiding for over 6 months and returned before the 2006 elections and rejoined the Congress.^{[8] [9][10]}

The All India Congress Committee suspended Thiagarajan in June 2019 for anti-party activities.^[11] He joined BJP in February 2021.^[12]

References

1. "Karate Thiagarajan, Sivaji Ganesan's son and grandson join BJP". Shanmughasundaram J. The Times of India. 11 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
2. "Congress headed for real martial arts post Tamil Nadu polling". The Economic Times. 16 April 2011. ISSN 0013-0389. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
3. "Police raid leaves karate officials red- faced". Yahoo News. 21 September 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
4. "Karate Thiagarajan dismissed for allegedly misappropriating funds". DNA news. 2 January 2010. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
5. "When civic sense got a headstart". Saptarshi Bhattacharya. New Indian Express. 16 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
6. "DMK members evicted en masse". The Hindu. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2016. ^{[dead link‍]}
7. "Tamil Nadu: Corporation personnel face axe in flyover scam". Kenath Jayashankar Menon. Asian Tribune. 27 May 2005. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
8. "Chennai Deputy Mayor expelled from AIADMK". Deccan Herald. 15 October 2005. Retrieved 6 May 2016. ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
9. Scaria, Joe A (14 May 2011). "Thangabalu quits, leaves TNCC to ponder future". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
10. "Thiagarajan joins Congress". The Hindu. 17 April 2006. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
11. "AICC suspends Karate Thiagarajan again, forms disciplinary committee". DTNext.in. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
12. "Late thespian Sivaji Ganesans son Ram Kumar, Karate Thiagarajan join BJP". Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.