From 2009 until 2011, this Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party politician served as Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Previously, he had held office as Mayor of Chennai and Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development. He entered politics when he was just fourteen years old, running in a 1967 state election and becoming a political party committee member in 1973. He went on to earn a degree in history from the University of Madras.
