Cabinet reshuffle: Pon Radhakrishnan, the sole Tamil face in the council

He is one of the two new ministers of state for Finance

One of the two new ministers of state for Finance, Pon Radhakrishnan is the only Tamil face in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers. Representing Kanyakumari in the Lok Sabha, he is perhaps the Bharatiya Janata Party’s most visible leader from the southern state. Before being appointed to the post on Sunday, Radhakrishnan was MoS for Road Transport, Highway and Shipping. Earlier, he was also MoS for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

He was also state chief of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. Radhakrishnan, a lawyer by profession, was born in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, in March 1952. He first contested parliamentary elections in 1999 on a BJP ticket and won. In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Radhakrishnan held several portfolios at various times, including youth affairs and sports, urban development and poverty allleviation, and road transport and highways.