Dayanidhi Maran

Dayanidhi Murasoli Maran (born 5 December 1966) is an Indian politician and one of the prominent members of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party. He was elected four times as a Member of Parliament to Lok Sabha from Chennai Central constituency during the 2004 general elections, 2009 general elections, 2019 general elections and 2024 elections.

He is the son of former Union Minister Murasoli Maran and the grandnephew of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and former DMK president M. Karunanidhi. He is the younger brother of Indian billionaire Kalanithi Maran, the founder, chairman of Sun Group and of Sun Risers Hyderabad. He is married to Priya, and has a daughter and a son.

Maran has wide exposure in the fields of media, television, cable technology, political economy and management and has been a delegate at many international seminars and conferences in various countries.

Early life Dayanidhi Maran is the second son of ex-minister Murasoli Maran, who was the Commerce and Industrial minister of India. He is also the grandnephew of DMK president and ex-chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi. He is the younger brother of Kalanidhi Maran, the founder and managing director of Sun Network.

Maran studied at Don Bosco School, Egmore. He then graduated in economics from Loyola College, Chennai. He also attended the "Owner/President Management Programme" (OPM) from Harvard Business School (USA). The Owner/President Management Programme is meant for business owners/founders.

Maran is married to Priya of "The Hindu" family. Priya is the daughter of Ramesh Rangarajan, Director of Kasturi & Sons, and the pair have a daughter and a son.

Positions held Period Position 14 Aug. 2024 onwards Member of the Committee on Estimates 18 Jul. 2024 onwards Member, Business Advisory Committee June 2024 Elected to 18th Lok Sabha June 2024 onwards Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Affairs 13 Sept. 2019 onwards Member, Standing Committee on Home Affairs 24 Jul. 2019 onwards Member, Committee on Estimates May 2019 Re-elected to 17th Lok Sabha (3rd term) 31 May 2009 – 19 Jul. 2011 Union Cabinet Minister, Textiles 2009 Re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha (2nd term) May 2004 – 13 May 2007 Union Cabinet Minister, Communications and Information Technology 2004 Elected to 14th Lok Sabha

Tenure as an MP and Union minister

He contested from Central Chennai Constituency in Tamil Nadu as a DMK party candidate and been elected thrice during the 2004, 2009 and 2019 elections as member of parliament.

During the 2004 elections, his winning margin was over votes and he received 62% of the total votes polled. During the tenure, he was instrumental in garnering a large amount of Foreign Direct Investments into Communication and Information Technology Sector. Many multinational telecom companies including Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Flextronics and Dell set up units in the country. His ministry introduced "One Rupee One India" plan across the country, which enabled calls across the country at a rate of 1 per minute. His ministry set and achieved a target of 250 million connections in December 2007 to December 2010, against 75 million in May 2004.

During the 2009 elections he won by a margin of 33,454 votes and he received 46.82% of the total votes polled.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, he once again contested from the Chennai Central Parliamentary Constituency, winning it for the 3rd time, polling a stunning 4,48,911 votes and defeated the other contestants with a record-breaking victory margin of 3,01,520 votes.

Elections contested

Controversies

Remarks on North Indian migrant workers In December 2023, a video of Maran from a previous event went viral in which he compared the employment prospects of individuals who learn English with those who study only Hindi. Maran stated that while youth in Tamil Nadu learn English and secure high-paying jobs in the IT sector, individuals from northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who "only learn Hindi" migrate to Tamil Nadu to work in construction or perform "menial" tasks, such as cleaning roads and toilets.

The remarks were widely condemned across the political spectrum. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Maran of attempting to create a "North-South divide" and insulting the dignity of workers from northern India. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) defended the context of his speech, stating that Maran's intention was to highlight the economic benefits of the state's two-language policy.