Lonappan Nambadan (13 November 1935 – 5 June 2013) was an Indian politician from

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 was member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly for six terms from 1977 - 2001 and was a state minister in two E. K. Nayanar ministries. He was a member of the

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian Nation ...

of India. He represented the Mukundapuram constituency of

and was a member of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

(CPI(M)) political party.

Biography

Nambadan was born on 13 November 1935 at

Perambra Perambra is a major town in Koyilandy taluk of Kozhikode district in North Malabar region of Kerala state, India. It is one of the 140 assembly constituencies in Kerala, and one of the 12 block Panchayats in Kozhikode district. Perambra lies al ...

, as the son of Nambadan Kuriappan and Plamena. He studied in National Boys High School, Kodakara and TTC from District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Ramavarmapuram, Thrissur. After that he took to the teaching profession, before he became active in public life. He entered politics in 1957 through

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 E ...

and worked as its local President. He was elected to

Kodakara Kodakara is a town in the Thrissur district of Kerala state in South India. It is located next to the national highway (NH 544), south of Thrissur town and about north of Chalakudy. Administratively, Kodakara is part of Kodakara Panchayat an ...

panchayat in 1963. He joined Kerala Congress the next year when it was formed and became its President, Kodakara Constituency Committee. Nambadan was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1977, 1980 and 1982 from Kodakara constituency as a Kerala Congress Candidate. On 15 March 1982, Nambadan voted against the K. Karunakaran -led UDF government which was surviving on the casting vote of Assembly Speaker A. C. Jose. This led to the resignation of the Ministry. Nambadan who was one of the founding leaders of the Kerala Congress resigned from the party. Nambadan had in public cut the veins on his hand earlier to sabotage the attempts of some rebel members led by the E. John Jacob to split the Kerala Congress. In 1987, 1991 and 1996 Nambadan contested from Irinjalakuda constituency as an Independent candidate backed by the LDF. Nambadan served as Transport Minister from 25 January 1980 to 20 October 1981 and as Housing Minister from 2 April 1987 to 17 June 1991, both terms when E. K. Nayanar was the Chief Minister. Nambadan had long fought for the declaration of Malayalam as the official language used in official transactions of the state. He had burnt English copies of legislative bills in the Assembly hall and his supporters had to undergo several days of imprisonment for shouting slogans demanding introduction of Malayalam as official language. A formal declaration to this effect was made by the state government in 2012. In 2004 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Mukundapuram constituency, defeating Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal by a margin of more than a lakh votes. Popularly known as Nambadan Mash (short for master), he was known for his quirky oratorical skills and theatrics which he used unsparingly in attacking rivals. A theatre activist, he had acted in two films. He played the late Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu in

Shaji N. Karun Shaji Neelakantan Karun (born 1 January 1952) is an Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film '' Piravi'' (1988) won the Caméra d'Or – Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. He was the premiere chairman of the Keral ...

's documentary film on Communist leader

A. K. Gopalan Ayillyath Kuttiari Gopalan (1 October 1904 – 22 March 1977), popularly known as A. K. Gopalan or AKG, was an Indian communist politician. He was one of 16 Communist Party of India members elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952. Later he bec ...

, titled ''AKG''. Nambadan also authored a few books including the collection ''Ningalude Swantham Nambadan''. His autobiography is titled ''Sancharikkunna Viswasi''. He received the 2012

Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award is a literary award instituted by UAE-based Abu Dhabi Sakthi Theatres and awarded to writers in Malayalam literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep an ...

in other categories of literature for this work.

Posts held

* 1977 - 2001 : Member, Kerala Legislative Assembly (six terms) * 1980-1982: Minister, Transport, Government of Kerala * 1987-1991 Minister, Housing, Government of Kerala * 2004-2009: Member,

References

External links

Members of Fourteenth Lok Sabha - Parliament of India website

Obituary by Sebastian Paul
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nambadan, Lonappan Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala 1935 births 2013 deaths India MPs 2004–2009 Politicians from Thrissur Lok Sabha members from Kerala Kerala MLAs 1977–1979 Kerala MLAs 1980–1982 Kerala MLAs 1982–1987 Kerala MLAs 1991–1996 Kerala MLAs 1996–2001 Recipients of the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award