CHENNAI: It came as a surprise for many a veteran, as hours before the deadline for filing nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election, All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced a lesser-known but widely respected man with good organisational skills — M Christopher Tilak alias Christopher Manickam — as its candidate.
A native of Dharapuram in present day Tirupur, Tilak, a Dalit christian (OBC community), currently residing in Tiruchy, has been associated with the grand old party since 2007.
As per several leaders in Tiruchy, though he was introduced into the party through veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, he soon got into the good books of both Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge after which he was elevated as secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh in 2018.
Tilak has also served as secretary in-charge of Odisha, parliament observer for assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, and national programme convener of SC department of AICC for several states including Tamil Nadu.
Currently, he serves as the secretary in-charge of Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.Son of Manickam, a former professor of History at Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU),
Tilak pursued his school and college education in Madurai, completing BE and MBA at Madurai Thiagarajar College. He is also pursuing post doctoral research at the Tata Institute of Management.