Leela Damodara Menon (4 January 1923 – 10 October 1995) was an Indian politician. She was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, representing

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 ...

in the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

India's Parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

as a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

Biography

Leela was born on January 4, 1923, the daughter of K. U. Krishnan Nair. In June 12, 1941, Leela married K. A. Damodara Menon, who was active in Kerala politics. The couple have three children. Leela also held several other positions including treasurer of the Congress Party Treasurer from 1957 to 1959, Convener of the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

, Senator of the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

, Senator of the

University of Kerala University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

, Representative of India to the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

, Vice-Chairman of the Human Rights Commission (India) and General Secretary of the All India Women's Conference.

Electoral politics

In the first elections to 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 ...

in 1957, Leela contested from Kunnamangalam and her husband Damodara Menon from Perumbavur, in which he lost and she won. In the second Kerala Assembly elections of 1960, Leela contested from Kunnamangalam and her husband Damodara Menon from Paravur, as Indian National Congress candidates, and both of whom won. She served as the member of

from 1974 to 1980.

Awards and honors

Leela received the

Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award is given each year, since 1958, by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy), to Malayalam writers for their outstanding books of literary merit. The awards are given in various categories.

for her autobiography named ''Chettante Nizhalil''.

References

1923 births 1995 deaths Rajya Sabha members from Kerala Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Women members of the Kerala Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Kerala MLAs 1957–1959 Kerala MLAs 1960–1964 Kerala MLAs 1987–1991 Women members of the Rajya Sabha St. Teresa's College alumni {{Kerala-INC-politician-stub