He was allocated Electricity and Non-Conventional Energy Development portfolios of minister V. Senthil Balaji who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a job racket case on 16 June 2023 by Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi on the recommendations of Chief Minister M K Stalin.
[4][5] He is the younger brother of recently elected Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, from the Chennai South constituency, Thamizhachi Thangapandian.
Thenarasu, whose father was V. Thangapandian, a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government minister,[6] himself became Minister for Schools in the DMK government that gained power at the 2006 state assembly elections.
Thenarasu stood as a candidate in the newly created constituency of Tiruchuli for the 2011 elections.
He filed a case in the court against the Tamil Nadu Government's decision to form an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in construction of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly-secretariat complex.