V. Senthil Balaji

V. Senthil Balaji (born 21 October 1975) is an Indian politician and former Cabinet Minister of Government of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from Karur in 2006, 2011 and as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in 2021 election. Also he was elected from Aravakurichi constituency in 2016 from ADMK ticket and as DMK candidate in 2019 by election. He served as Transport Minister in Jayalalitha cabinet formed after 2011 election.

V Senthil Balaji was born on 21 October 1975 in Rameswarapatti in Karur district. He hails from an agricultural background. He has completed his high school & Higher Secondary school studies from Rameswarapatti Govt. School, Vivekananda School, Pasupathypalayam and Municipal Higher Secondary school, Karur. He entered politics at the age of 21 and was active since early 2000s.

In 1997 he began his public service as a local body member. He was the Minister for Transport of the Government of Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2015. He was dropped from cabinet in July 2015. As a cadre of Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, he was previously elected to the same Karur constituency in 2006 general elections. He was elected as a MLA from Aravakurichi constituency in 2016. After the demise of Jayalalithaa he played a key role in saving the government. When AIADMK separated into factions he stood by T. T. V. Dhinakaran. On 18 September 2017, 18 MLA's were disqualified by the speaker P. Dhanapal for their petition to the Governor Mr. Banwarilal Purohit to change the Chief Minister. He joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), in the presence of Party President M. K. Stalin on 14 December 2018. Soon after joining the party he was offered District Secretary post and later was announced as by-election candidate for Aravakurichi constituency. He was elected as a MLA on 23 May 2019 for fourth time. He serves as a member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. He won the election held in the month of April 2021.

On 14 June 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Senthil Balaji during raids in Chennai and Coimbatore, linked to a money laundering case from his tenure as Transport Minister (2011–2015) in the AIADMK government. He was placed in judicial custody and later hospitalized due to chest pain. Balaji resigned in February 2024 but was reinstated as minister after his release in September 2024.

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