Who is Nainar Nagendran, the TN BJP leader whose staff were caught with Rs 4 cr 'cash for vote' money

CHENNAI: Desperate to make in roads into Tamil Nadu political sphere, especially after AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa's death left a huge void, the State unit of the BJP began scouting for leaders from other parties whom they could lure with post and pride.

Among the ones they managed to snag, the biggest was Nainar Nagendran, then an influential AIADMK leader in Tirunelveli.

Nainar Nagendran, a native of Nagercoil’s Vadiveeswaram village, belongs to one of the intermediate castes (Maravar sect of the larger Mukkulathor community), who play a dominant role in caste politics in southern Tamil Nadu.

Nainar had a quick rise within the AIADMK after Jayalalithaa inducted him into the cabinet after his very first Assembly poll victory from Tirunelveli in 2001.

In the 2001-2006 government, Nainar handled various key departments, including Electricity, Industries and Transport.

He lost the seat by a slender margin of 606 votes in the Assembly election of 2006, won it back in 2011 and lost it again in 2016 by a small margin of 601.

When Nainar was not accommodated in the Cabinet during the AIADMK regime led by Jayalalithaa from 2011-16, it triggered speculations that he has been sidelined in the party.

However, even as many others shifted loyalty to the DMK, he remained in the party.

This changed after the death of the AIADMK supremo. He soon moved to the BJP in 2017, claiming that Jayalalithaa's death left the party which forced him to make the choice.

In 2021, he was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Tirunelveli constituency yet again, this time on a BJP ticket.

The party faced the election in alliance with the AIADMK.

Though the four MLAs that the party has in the Assembly included senior leaders like its Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan and veteran Parivar man MR Gandhi, Nainar was appointed the BJP legislative party leader, which was seen as a reward.

Nainar is also a businessman, who owns a number of hotels across Tamil Nadu, including Hotel Blue Diamond in Kilpauk in Chennai that was raided on Sunday by Election Commission officials.

In State politics, especially in south Tamil Nadu, he is known for his groundwork and camaraderie across caste lines.

After joining the BJP, he was also caught in controversies. In what is seen as an attempt to imitate the saffron party politics, he issuied death threats to acclaimed Tamil lyricist and writer Vairamuthu in January 2018 for his controversial remarks on Aandal. This was far removed from Nainar’s usual demeanour. He was booked for hate speech and was arrested by the State police.

The seizure of Rs 4 crore from three people on Nellai Express, the biggest single haul this Lok Sabha election campaign period, has come as a bigger blow for Nainar and also the saffron party, which has been accusing both DMK and AIADMK of bribing voters to win elections.

According to officials, the trio was identified as S Sathish (33) and his brother S Navin (31) of Chennai, and S Perumal (26) of Srivaikuntam in Thoothukudi.

Police investigations revealed that all three of them are staff of Hotel Blue Diamond owned by Nainar Nagendran, and functionaries of State BJP. They were instructed to carry the cash bags from Chennai and deliver them in Tirunelveli, investigations revealed.