Raja in gruelling contest to retain Nilgiris

IT'S that time of the year when the weather here is balmy, drawing tourists in droves.

- N DHAMOTHARAN

However, the political temperature has soared in the old mountain ranges as it witnesses an ideological battle between the BJP's L Murugan, a minister of state in Modi's ministry, and the DMK's A Raja, former telecom minister in the UPA-2 ministry, in this reserved constituency.

Raja and Murugan are locked in a fierce threecornered battle with Lokesh Tamilselvan of the AIADMK, son of P Dhanapal who was speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for nearly 10 years up to May 2021.

A native of Namakkal, Murugan was actively involved in the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) in his college days and later joined the RSS. Between 2017 and 2020, he served as Vice Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC). During this period, he closely worked with people belonging to the SC community. In March 2020, he became the state president of the BJP, the second person from a Dalit community to hold the post after SP Kirubanidhi.