Palanivel Thiagarajan, or PTR, as he is better known, is a study in contrasts. However, for once in his long and eventful career, the 55-year-old’s life has taken an anticipated turn. New Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has picked this highly qualified MLA — with an engineering degree from NIT Trichy, higher studies in the State University of New York, and an MBA in Finance from the Sloan School of Management at MIT — to be his Finance Minister.
Tamil Nadu’s new Finance Minister, Palanivel Thiagarajan, popularly known as PTR, stands out because of his exceptional qualifications. He spent 20 years abroad, has an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management in the US and has worked for international investment corporations and banks. In addition, he belongs to a distinguished political dynasty of the state. But, PTR also tends to shoot off his mouth. While DMK sources insist that PTR and Stalin enjoy an amicable relationship and PTR has been given a free hand, for some reason, PTR has been relegated to 26th place in official precedence in the Cabinet, although conventionally, finance ministers rank No. 2 in the hierarchy.
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