A. Raja (Politician) Age, Wife, Family, Biography

Bio
Full Name	Andimuthu Raja
Nickname	Spectrum King
Profession(s)	Politician, Advocate
Politics
Political Party	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
Political Journey	1996: Elected to the 11th Lok Sabha 1999: Re-elected to the 13th Lok Sabha 1999: From October 1999 to September 2000 - Union Minister of State, Rural Development 2000: From September 2000 to December 2003 - Union Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare 2004: Re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha 2004: From May 2004 to May 2007 - Union Cabinet Minister, Environment & Forests 2007: Sworn in as the Union Cabinet Minister, Communication and Information Technology 2009: Re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha 2009: Union Cabinet Minister, Communications and Information Technology 2010: Stepped down as the Union Cabinet Minister, Communications and Information Technology after his alleged involvement in the 2G Spectrum Scam 2019: In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, he won over AIADMK's M Thiyagarajan by a margin of 205823 votes from the Nilgiris Constituency in Tamil Nadu 2024: Won the Nilgiris Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	5' 5" (165 cm)
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Personal Life
Date of Birth	26 October 1963 (Saturday)
Age (as of 2024)	61 Years
Birthplace	Velur, District Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India
Zodiac sign	Scorpio
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Velur, District Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India
School	He did his schooling in Tiruchirappalli
College	Government Arts College, Musiri Government Law College, Madurai Government Law College, Tiruchirapalli
Educational Qualification(s)	• Bachelor of Science from Bharthidasan University in 1984 • Bachelor of Law from Madurai Kamaraj University in 1987
Family	Father- S.K. Andimuthu Mother- Chinnapillai Brother- Andimuthu Kaliaperumal Sister- N/A
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Scheduled Caste (SC)
Address	# 3/125 Velur Village & Post Perambalur Taluk & Dist., Tamil Nadu
Hobbies	Writing Poems, Listening to Music
Controversies	• In late 2010, the 2G spectrum scandal scam worth INR 176,000 broke and A. Raja was jailed in February 2011. The trial of A. Raja, MP Kanimozhi and 12 other accused from telecom companies and the government were charged in the corruption scandal, which began in November 2011. Strange this was that, in 2007, Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar raised the issue and challenged the government's call to allocate 2G spectrum without calling for tenders. He informed the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, about the wrong methods of Raja in the 2G spectrum allocation. On 20 February 2012, the Supreme Court of India declared the allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary", the canceled all 122 licences issued in 2008 by A. Raja, and said "Raja wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and "virtually gifted away important national asset." • Just after A. Raja became a cabinet minister in the NDA government of 2004, Sadiq Batcha, a friend of A. Raja, moved his base from Perambalur to Chennai and formed a real estate firm called 'Green House Promoters', which had Raja's nephew Paramesh Kumar as joint managing director and Raja's brother A Kaliyaperumal and Raja's wife Parameswari as directors, though Paramewari resigned from the post of directors due to investigations. In 2008, Batcha started another real estate firm called 'Equaas Estates Pvt Ltd', which had Raja's wife Parameswari as a director. The firm had a huge turnover of 755 crores in just a matter of 2 years, largely due to the involvement of Raja. Batcha went under the CBI scanner during the 2G Spectrum scam due to his alleged involvement with Raja. On 16 March 2011, Batcha allegedly committed suicide at his Chennai residence. Police found a suicide note according to which he took this step due to his media trial which completely tarnished his image. • In December 2022, the Enforcement Directorate provisionally attached 45 acres of land worth about Rs 55 crore in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore allegedly held in the name of a “benami” company of A. Raja. According to the ED, during his tenure as the Union Minister of Environment & Forests from 2004 to 2007, Mr. Raja granted environmental clearances to a Gurugram-based real-estate company, and his company, that he incorporated in 2007 in the name of his family members and his close family friend, received money as quid pro quo from the real estate deal, and the money was used for acquiring land in Coimbatore district. The agency released a statement that read, "During the course of PMLA [Prevention of Money Laundering Act] investigation, ED has found that the real-estate company has given kickback to A. Raja as quid pro quo for awarding the environmental clearance, around the same period in the year 2007, in the garb of land commission income in the hands of one ‘benami’ company of A. Raja." [1]The Hindu • On 5 March 2024, Raja attracted a controversy by saying that the Southern state would not adopt slogans like "Jai Shri Ram" and the "Bharat Mata." He was later criticised by many including the BJP who demanded his arrest. [2]Mint
Favourites
Politician	M. Karunanidhi
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Wife/Spouse	M.A. Parameshwari (died of cancer on 29 May 2021)
Marriage Date	2 April 1996
Children	Son- None Daughter- Mayuri
Style Quotient
Car	Toyota Corolla Altis
Assets/Properties	• Bank Deposits: Rs. 1.08 Crore • Bonds & Shares: Rs. 1.47 Crore • Jewellery: Worth Rs. 1.30 Crore • Agricultural Land: Worth Rs. 22 Lakh • Residential Buildings: Worth Rs. 37.61 Lakh
Money Factor
Salary (as a Member of Parliament)	Rs. 1 Lakh + Other Allowances
Net Worth (approx.)	Rs. 4.95 Crore (as of 2019)

Some Lesser Known Facts About A. Raja

• A. Raja comes from a modest Tamil-Dalit family.

• In his childhood, he had to daily travel to Tiruchirappalli for his education due to the lack of facilities in his hometown.

• He was the student leader of the ‘Dravidar Kazhagam’, the parent body of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

• He made his mark as a Dalit block level leader and climbed quickly, as he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996.

• His catchline “Oru kilo arisi oru rupa, oru hello 50 paisa” (1 kg rice one rupee, a hello on the phone 50 paisa), was quite popular in his election campaigns.

• Earlier, he used to represent Perambalur, but later, he represented the Nilgiris constituency in Tamil Nadu.

• In 2008, he hit headlines for his wrongdoings in the allocation of license for the 2G bandwidth in 2007 soon after he took over as the Minister Of Communications & Information Technology.
  

  A. Raja in Police Custody

• According to reports, he received INR 3,000 crore as a bribe extent the last date for applications from 25 September 2007 to 1 October 2007.

• Initially, the Tamil media didn’t give much coverage on the spectrum scam or the 2G tapes. Only Dinamani (from the New Indian Express group) reported the scam.

• He never felt guilty for his offenses and, instead, claimed that he did a revolution and in return, he was branded as a criminal.

• On 21 December 2017, all the accused in the 2G spectrum case, including A Raja & Kanimozhi, were acquitted of all charges.