P Thangamani, the Minister for Electricity, looks modest but remains to be one of the influential leaders both in the party and the Cabinet.
Rose from the ranks, Thangamani, hailing from a village, Govindampalayam, in the textile town Pallipalayam in Namakkal district, bagged the laurels for his commendable performance on earlier occasions
holding Revenue and then Industries portfolios.
In the general elections to the Assembly in 2006 he won the polls in Tiruchengode segment by a whisker of just 116 votes. Since then, nothing could stop him from rising the ladders of growth.
When Jayalalithaa captured power in 2011, the 56-year-old Thangamani, elected to Assembly from Kumarapalayam segment, was rewarded with a berth in Cabinet. In the 2016 polls, he registered a second consecutive win in Kumarapalayam and became the Minister for Electricity. Despite being a minister and district secretary of AIADMK, he chooses to be an untiring party worker.
Being a close of relative of the most influential leader Edappadi K Palanisamy and belonging to the dominant community, Gounder, the western region of the state tilts the scale towards Thangamani who was lauded for commendable performance.