Chennai, May 24: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa consoling the relatives of state environment minister N Mariyam Pichai, who was killed in a road accident at Tiruvalarkurichi village near Paadaluon on Monday.TIRUCHI: N Mariyam Pichai (60), a first-time MLA and minister, started his life as a vegetable vendor in Tiruchi around 40 years back. He had arrived in this city from his native Panayur village in Ramanathapuram district seeking greener pastures.
Within years, he grew and set up his own grocery store. Soon, Mariyam Pichai was emerged as a realtor. His love for movies prompted him to build two theatres Mariam and Jothi Anantham, and he also began film distribution. With his growth as a businessman, his clout too grew among the traders. That was when politics caught his imagination and Mariyam Pichai joined the AIADMK and swore his loyalty to late M G Ramachandran.
He entered electoral politics when he contested as a ward councillor in the then Tiruchi municipality in 1988 and won. Since then he has won four times in the local body polls. He unsuccessfully contested against DMK’s K N Nehru in the 2006 elections. But, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa chose him again in 2011 as the right person to challenge the might of Nehru in Tiruchi West segment. He trounced Nehru by 7,179 votes.
It was alleged that Mariam Pichai had links with illicit liquor brewers during his early years as a politician. His younger brother Peer Mohamed was hacked to death by a gang two decades back.
–Agencies