Jayanthi Natarajan | |
---|---|
MoS for Environment and Forests | |
In office July 2011 – December 2013 |
|
Prime Minister | Dr Manmohan Singh |
Preceded by | Jairam Ramesh |
Succeeded by | Veerappa Moily |
Constituency | Tamil Nadu |
Personal details | |
Born |
Madras, India |
7 June 1954
Political party | Indian National Congress Resigned in Feb,2015 |
Spouse(s) | V. K. Natarajan |
Children | one son |
Residence | New Delhi |
As of 26 January, 2007 Source: [2] |
Jayanthi Natarajan (born 7 June 1954) is an Indian lawyer and politician. She was a member of the Indian National Congress and has been thrice elected Member of Parliament representing the state of Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha. From July 2011 to December 2013, she was the Union Minister of State (Independent charge), Minister of Forests and Environment. She resigned as Minister of State for Environment and Forest on December 21, 2013. On January 30, 2015, she announced in a press conference at Chennai that she would be resigning from the Congress party alleging that "specific requests" by Rahul Gandhi were the basis of whether industrial projects were given clearances by her ministry, and that he shifted from a pro-environmental position to corporate-friendly stand for the elections in 2014.
Jayanthi Natarajan was born in Madras, India. She was born to Dr. C R Sundararajan and Rukmini Sundararajan. Jayanthi Natarajan is the niece of notable social worker Sarojini Varadappan. Her grandfather was M. Bakthavatsalam, a prominent Congress politician and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu between 1963 and 1967. She did her schooling from a prominent Chennai school, Sacred Heart Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Church Park. Jayanthi studied law and became a practicing advocate in Madras. Apart from her commercial practice, she also did pro bono work for a number of social organizations including the All India Women's Conference, and the legal aid board. She also worked briefly as a newscaster for Doordarshan Kendra, Madras
Her political career began when she was noticed by Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s. She was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1986 and once again in 1992.
During the 90's Jayanthi Natarajan and other leaders from Tamil Nadu who were unhappy with Narasimha Rao decided to break away from the party. They founded the Tamil Maanila Congress under G K Moopanar. Jayanthi Natarajan resigned from the Rajya Sabha and was re-elected in 1997 as a TMC member.