K. Muraleedharan
Encyclopedia
'K. Muraleedharan (born:14 May 1957) is an Indian politician from Kerala
. He was elected as member of the Lok Sabha
thrice (in 1989, 1991, and 1999) from the Kozhikode
constituency, representing the Indian National Congress
, subsequently leaving the party in 2005.
, Kerala on the 14 May 1957. He has one sister, Padmaja Venugopal, who has also entered politics. After studying for his BA at Mar Ivanios College
, Trivandrum, he qualified in law from Kerala Law Academy Law College
. Muraleedharan is married and has two sons. He lists his hobbies as films and drama, football and badminton.
worker. Thereafter, he held the posts of District Chairman and State Chief of Kerala Seva Dal.
He was elected Member of Parliament
from the Calicut (Kozhikode) constituency in the General Elections of 1989
, winning re-election in 1991
. In the 1996 general election
, he lost his seat to the Janata Dal
candidate M. P. Veerendra Kumar
and subsequently failed in his come back attempt in the 1998 election
, before regaining the seat in 1999
. Thereafter, he held many posts within the local Kerala Congress Committee
(KPCC) including General Secretary, Vice President and later President.
In February 2004, Muraleedharan was appointed Minister of Power in the A. K. Antony
Ministry, though he was not a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly
. He was required to win a seat within six months to continue as minister, but lost the by-election from Wadakkancherry
. Subsequently, he resigned in May that year.
In 2005, when the Karunakaran faction of the Indian National Congress
party had differences with the party leadership and the United Democratic Front
(UDF), some members of the party quit and formed another party named Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran)
(DIC(K)). They allied with the Left Democratic Front
(LDF) for the local panchayat
elections of 2005 and had some success.
However, for the Kerala Assembly elections of 2006, DIC(K) made a pact with UDF as LDF declined to make any electoral arrangements with DIC(K).
DIC(K) contested in 17 constituencies but managed to get elected only from 1 seat mostly because of grassroot level cross-voting by Congress. Muralidharan lost the election in Koduvally constituency to P.T.A.Rahim.
With the future of the DIC(K) party untenable, some party members of the DIC(K) returned to the Congress party whilst others, including Karunakaran and Muraleedharan, decided instead to join the Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP).
Later, Karunakaran rejoined the Congress party, while his son Muraleedharan opted to stay with the NCP, decrying his father's "betrayal". Muraleedharan contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls
from the Wayanad constituency under the NCP ticket, but came only in third place, behind the Congress party and the CPI
.
In August 2009, he was expelled from the NCP and sacked as state chief of the party, as he openly expressed his desire to rejoin the Congress party. He was subsequently refused re-entry into the Congress party, the party leadership stating that the disparaging comments he had made about the party leadership whilst in opposition were too big a barrier to his re-joining. Muraleedharan pledged that he would "wait for any length of time" for the party to change its mind and readmit him, while his father Karunakaran stated that he would take up the matter with the national leadership of the Congress party, if necessary.He was readmitted to the Congress party in February 2011, and was given a ticket to contest the Assembly election from the Vattiyurkavu Assembly constituency (former Thiruvananthapuram North Constituency]. Subsequently, he won his first assembly election after he defeated ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) supported independent candidate Cherian Philip
by a margin of over 16,167 votes on May 14 2011.
POSITIONS HELD
1989 - MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FROM KOZHIKODE BY DEFEATING CPIM LEADER E.K.EMBICHIBAVA
1991 - MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FROM KOZHIKODE BY DEFEATING JANATA DAL LEADER M.P.VEERENDRA KUMAR
1999 - MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FROM KOZHIKODE BY DEFEATING JANATA LEADER C.M.IBRAHIM
2011 - MEMBER OF KERALA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FROM VATTIYOORKKAVU BY DEFEATING FAMOUS EX.KPCC SECRETARY AND KSU PRESIDENT CHERIAN PHILIP
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. He was elected as member of the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
thrice (in 1989, 1991, and 1999) from the Kozhikode
Kozhikode
Kozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...
constituency, representing the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
, subsequently leaving the party in 2005.
Personal life
K. Muraleedharan was born to K. Karunakaran and Kalliani Kutty Amma in ThrissurThrissur
This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...
, Kerala on the 14 May 1957. He has one sister, Padmaja Venugopal, who has also entered politics. After studying for his BA at Mar Ivanios College
Mar Ivanios College
Mar Ivanios College is an educational institutuion situated in Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala, India. The college is located on a small scenic hilltop with a sprawling campus area of hundreds of acres in Bethany Hills, Nalanchira, Thiruvananthapuram....
, Trivandrum, he qualified in law from Kerala Law Academy Law College
Kerala Law Academy Law College
Kerala Law Academy Law College founded in 1967, is one of the two renowned law colleges in Trivandrum, Kerala, the other being the Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala Law Academy is the only private law college in Kerala, India which is accredited by the Bar Council of India...
. Muraleedharan is married and has two sons. He lists his hobbies as films and drama, football and badminton.
Political career
Muraleedharan started his political career within the Congress party as a Seva DalSeva Dal
The Seva Dal is the grassroots front organization of the Congress party. The organization has a chapter in all the states of the Indian Union. The members of the organization are known for wearing the Gandhi topi. It is headed by a Chief Organizer, the present Chief Organizer is Mahendra Joshi...
worker. Thereafter, he held the posts of District Chairman and State Chief of Kerala Seva Dal.
He was elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from the Calicut (Kozhikode) constituency in the General Elections of 1989
Indian general election, 1989
General elections were held in India in 1989 to elect the members of the 9th Lok Sabha. The result was a loss for the Indian National Congress and Rajiv Gandhi, because all the opposition parties formed together a minority government under V. P. Singh and the National Front...
, winning re-election in 1991
Indian general election, 1991
General elections were held in India in 1991 to elect the members of the 10th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was that no party could get a majority, so a minority government was formed, resulting in a stable government for the next 5 years, under the new Prime Minister P.V...
. In the 1996 general election
Indian general election, 1996
General elections were held in India in 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998. The United Front, was created and got support from 332...
, he lost his seat to the Janata Dal
Janata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
candidate M. P. Veerendra Kumar
M. P. Veerendra Kumar
M. P. Veerendra Kumar was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He is a member of the Socialist Janata political party and the president of Kerala state unit of the party. He is also the chairman and Managing editor of the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi...
and subsequently failed in his come back attempt in the 1998 election
Indian general election, 1998
General elections were held in India in 1998, after the government elected in 1996 collapsed and the 12th Lok Sabha was convened. New elections were called when Indian National Congress left the United Front government led by I.K...
, before regaining the seat in 1999
Indian general election, 1999
General Elections were held in India from September 5 to October 3, 1999, a few months after the Kargil War. The 13th Lok Sabha election is of historical importance as it was the first time a united front of parties managed to attain a majority and form a government that lasted a full term of five...
. Thereafter, he held many posts within the local Kerala Congress Committee
Pradesh Congress Committee
The elected committee that directs the Congress Party in an Indian state is known as a PCC, or Pradesh Congress Committee. It is elected by card-holding members of the Congress, the world's largest political organisation, and in turn elects State Congress Presidents and delegates to the All India...
(KPCC) including General Secretary, Vice President and later President.
In February 2004, Muraleedharan was appointed Minister of Power in the A. K. Antony
A. K. Antony
Arackaparambil Kurien Antony is an Indian National Congress politician, a former Chief Minister of Kerala, and the current Defence Minister of India....
Ministry, though he was not a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly
Kerala Legislative Assembly
The Kerala Legislative Assembly more popularly known as Niyamasabha , is the law making body of Kerala, one of the 28 States in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives and one nominated member from the Anglo-Indian community...
. He was required to win a seat within six months to continue as minister, but lost the by-election from Wadakkancherry
Wadakkancherry
Wadakkanchery , is a small town in Thrissur district, Kerala. It is the Head Quarters of Thalappilly Taluk.-Geography:This town is situated on the Trissur - Shornur State Highway 22 and is directly connected to Kunnamkulam...
. Subsequently, he resigned in May that year.
In 2005, when the Karunakaran faction of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
party had differences with the party leadership and the United Democratic Front
United Democratic Front (India)
United Democratic Front is an alliance of political parties of Kerala state in India. This alliance is led by the Indian National Congress....
(UDF), some members of the party quit and formed another party named Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran)
Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran)
Democratic Indira Congress is a defunct political party in Kerala, India. DIC was founded at a meeting in Thrissur by the K. Karunakuran faction of the Indian National Congress on May 1, 2005. Initially it was called National Congress , but the name was changed DIC for registration purposes in...
(DIC(K)). They allied with the Left Democratic Front
Left Democratic Front
Left Democratic Front is a coalition of left winged political parties in the state of Kerala, in India. This is one of the two major political coalitions in Kerala, each of which have been in power alternatively for the last two decades. LDF is the coalition that is presently in oppposition...
(LDF) for the local panchayat
Local Governance in Kerala
Kerala, is a tiny state in the southernmost part of India. In decentralization, the State had a long history of half-hearted reforms characterized by partial successes and blatant reversals from its creation in 1957...
elections of 2005 and had some success.
However, for the Kerala Assembly elections of 2006, DIC(K) made a pact with UDF as LDF declined to make any electoral arrangements with DIC(K).
DIC(K) contested in 17 constituencies but managed to get elected only from 1 seat mostly because of grassroot level cross-voting by Congress. Muralidharan lost the election in Koduvally constituency to P.T.A.Rahim.
With the future of the DIC(K) party untenable, some party members of the DIC(K) returned to the Congress party whilst others, including Karunakaran and Muraleedharan, decided instead to join the Nationalist Congress Party
Nationalist Congress Party
The Nationalist Congress Party is a centre to centre left political party primarily based in the state of Maharashtra, India.-Background:...
(NCP).
Later, Karunakaran rejoined the Congress party, while his son Muraleedharan opted to stay with the NCP, decrying his father's "betrayal". Muraleedharan contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls
Indian general election, 2009
India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million , it was the largest democratic election in the world to date.By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be...
from the Wayanad constituency under the NCP ticket, but came only in third place, behind the Congress party and the CPI
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
.
In August 2009, he was expelled from the NCP and sacked as state chief of the party, as he openly expressed his desire to rejoin the Congress party. He was subsequently refused re-entry into the Congress party, the party leadership stating that the disparaging comments he had made about the party leadership whilst in opposition were too big a barrier to his re-joining. Muraleedharan pledged that he would "wait for any length of time" for the party to change its mind and readmit him, while his father Karunakaran stated that he would take up the matter with the national leadership of the Congress party, if necessary.He was readmitted to the Congress party in February 2011, and was given a ticket to contest the Assembly election from the Vattiyurkavu Assembly constituency (former Thiruvananthapuram North Constituency]. Subsequently, he won his first assembly election after he defeated ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) supported independent candidate Cherian Philip
Cherian Philip
Cherian Philip is a leading politician of Kerala, India and is currently Chairman of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation . He was the President of Deshiyavedi Organisation. He was the Secretary of KPCC while A. K...
by a margin of over 16,167 votes on May 14 2011.
POSITIONS HELD
1989 - MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FROM KOZHIKODE BY DEFEATING CPIM LEADER E.K.EMBICHIBAVA
1991 - MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FROM KOZHIKODE BY DEFEATING JANATA DAL LEADER M.P.VEERENDRA KUMAR
1999 - MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FROM KOZHIKODE BY DEFEATING JANATA LEADER C.M.IBRAHIM
2011 - MEMBER OF KERALA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FROM VATTIYOORKKAVU BY DEFEATING FAMOUS EX.KPCC SECRETARY AND KSU PRESIDENT CHERIAN PHILIP