A. K. Balan (born 3 August 1948) is an Indian politician and advocate. He was the Minister for Devaswom and SC/ST Development in the

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the state of Kerala, India. It is the current ruling political alliance of Kerala, since 2016. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the oth ...

government under

V. S. Achuthanandan Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan (born 20 October 1923) is an Indian Communist politician who was the Chief Minister of Kerala from 2006 to 2011. At 82, he is the oldest person to have assumed the office. He served as the chairman of Admin ...

from 2006 to 2011, Minister for SC/ST, Law, Cultural Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs in the

first Pinarayi Vijayan ministry First Pinarayi Vijayan ministry is the Council of Ministers headed by Pinarayi Vijayan that was formed after the Left Democratic Front (LDF) won the 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections. The Council assumed office on 25 May 2016. The mini ...

and a member of Central Committee of

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

. He represents the Tarur constituency in the

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 28 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 c ...

Personal life

A. K. Balan was born to Kelappan and Kunhi on 3 August 1948 at

Nadapuram Nadapuram is a census town and a special grade Panchayath located in Kozhikode District of Kerala, coming under Nadapuram assembly constituency. It is in North Malabar region of Kerala, India; spread over an area of 20.44 km2 Awards Nadapuram ...

in present-day

Kozhikode district Kozhikode (), or Calicut district, is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its Southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 67.15% urbanised. ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. He is married to Dr. P. K. Jameela (Rtd. DHS) and has two sons, Nikhil Balan and Naveen Balan. Jameela was appointed Management Consultant at Aardram Mission in 2017. Naveen is married to Namitha Venugopal and is an international business developer in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Nikhil is a graduate of

Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram also known as GLC Trivandrum is one of the institutions imparting graduate and post graduate legal education in India. Affiliated to the University of Kerala, it is the second law college in Kerala a ...

and has also completed Post Graduation in Air and Space Law from

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, becoming the first

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. ...

to complete the course.

Education

Balan received his B.A. degree from

Government Brennen College, Thalassery Brennen College is an educational institution in Kerala, affiliated to the Kannur University. It is located in Dharmadam, Thalassery of Kerala state, India. The college evolved from a school established by the English philanthropist Edward Bre ...

, and also holds an

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from

Government Law College, Kozhikode The Government Law College, Kozhikode or Kozhikode Law College situated on the outskirts of Kozhikode, India, is owned by the Government of Kerala and affiliated to the University of Calicut. The college caters to the needs of the north Malab ...

Career

Balan entered politics through students movement and served as the President and the Secretary of Kerala State Committee of

Students' Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (abbreviated as SFI) is an Indian left-wing student organisation politically aligned to the ideologies of Independence, Democracy and Socialism. Currently, V. P. Sanu and Mayukh Biswas are elected as the All ...

(SFI). He took part in 'Land Agitation' and imprisoned for 30 days in Kannur Central Prison. He was elected to

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

from

Ottapalam Ottapalam, (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk and municipality in the Palakkad district, Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ottapalam taluk. Ottapalam is located about 36 km from district head ...

constituency in 1980 and to

from Kuzhalmannam in 2001. He is first electricity minister of any state in Indian history to electrify a district completely. In February 2010, under his ministry

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

was declared first district in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to be fully electrified. He is also having record of giving the most electricity connections to consumers in

Kerala state Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Cana ...

. Kerala also won the National Award for Energy Conservation during his period as minister. He was the Minister for SC/ST, Law, Cultural Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs for the State of Kerala and the Central Committee member of CPIM.

References

External links

* Malayali politicians Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala Politicians from Kozhikode Living people 1948 births Kerala MLAs 2001–2006 Kerala MLAs 2011–2016 Kerala MLAs 2016–2021 India MPs 1980–1984 Lok Sabha members from Kerala {{Kerala-CPIndiaMarxist-politician-stub

Personal life

Education

Career

See also

References

External links