Sivakumar was born in 1970 to M. Varatharaju and S. Karunakari.
Sivakumar entered politics in 1997, once serving as political secretary to Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran, before winning the Tronoh state seat in the 2008 general election, defeating Lee Kim Choy with a majority of 2,571 [REF].