Maniyankode Padmaprabha Veerendra Kumar (22 July 1936 — 28 May 2020) was an Indian politician, writer and journalist, who was a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

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 Nationa ...

. He was a member of the

Loktantrik Janata Dal The Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) was an unrecognized registered political party in India. It was nationally launched by Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar in May 2018. The party was formed after Yadav parted ways from Janata Dal (United), due to its ...

political party and president of the

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 ...

state branch of the party. He was also the chairman and managing director of the Malayalam daily newspaper ''

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian independence movement, Indian freedom struggle against the British Raj, British. The word "M ...

''.

Life

Veerendra Kumar was born on 22 July 1936 to Marudevi Avva and M. K. Padmaprabha Goudar, a leader of

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and former MLA, in

Kalpetta Kalpetta is a major town and municipality in the Wayanad district, state of Kerala, India. Kalpetta is the headquarters of Wayanad district, as well as the headquarters of Vythiri taluk. It is a bustling town surrounded by dense coffee and tea ...

. The eldest of their eight children, he had six younger sisters and a younger brother. After schooling in

and

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

, he did his master's in philosophy from the

Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, named after Swami Vivekananda, was formally inaugurated on 21 June 1946 by professor, philosopher, and politician, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. It is in Mylapore, the centre of Chennai, India, on 20 acres (81 ...

. As a politician, he was treasurer and a national committee member of the former

Samyukta Socialist Party Samyukta Socialist Party (; SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party. The General Secret ...

, state secretary of the Kerala Unit of the Socialist Party, one of the all India secretaries of the former Socialist Party, convener of the Opposition Co-ordination Committee in Kerala, vice president of the former

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

, and its president. He was arrested during The Emergency. From 1987–91 he was a member of 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 ...

. Later, in 1996 he was elected to the

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 ...

, lower house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

from Kozhikode constituency and served as Union Minister of State for Finance in Deve Gowde Ministry from 21 February 1997 to 7 June 1997. He also served as Union Minister of State for Labour (Independent charge) with additional charges as Minister of State, Urban Affairs & Employment (Independent charges) and Parliamentary Affairs in I.K.Gujral Ministry from 10 June 1997 to March. He died on 28 May 2020 due to cardiac arrest at

. He was aged 83 when he died, and was suffering from many age-related illnesses. He was cremated with full state honours at the premises of his ancestral home in Kalpetta. He is survived by his wife Usha, daughters Asha, Nisha and Jayalakshmi, son M.V. Sreyamskumar (Also a politician, currently serving as the Managing Director of Mathrubhumi), and many grandchildren.

Publications

His works as an author include: *''Samanwayathinte Vasantham'' *''Buddhante Chiri'' *''Gattum Kanacharadukalum'' *''Atmavilekkoru Theerthayathra'' *''Prathibhayute Verukal Thedi'' *''Changampuzha: Vidhiyute Vettamrigam'' *''Thirinjhunokkumbol'' *''Lokavyapara Samkhadanayum Oorakkudukkukalum'' (Gattinu Seshamulla Oranweshanam) *''Roshathinte Vithukal'' *''Adhinivesathinte Adiyozhukukal'' *''Hymavathabhoovil'' *''Ramantedhukkam'' *''Vivekanandan: Sanyasiyum Manushyanum''

Awards

V. R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan V. R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan (1909–2004) was an Indian freedom fighter, Gandhian, journalist, trade unionist and Indian National Congress leader from Thrissur city in Kerala, India. Ezhuthachan was the founder general secretary of the Kochi Rajy ...

Janmasadabdi Award (2009) *

Kendra Sahitya Academy Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

(2010) - for ''Haimavatha bhoovil''

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, M. P. Veerendra 1936 births 2020 deaths India MPs 2004–2009 Malayali politicians People from Wayanad district Malayalam-language journalists India MPs 1996–1997 Lok Sabha members from Kerala Samyukta Socialist Party politicians Janata Dal (United) politicians Janata Dal politicians Rajya Sabha members from Kerala Loktantrik Janata Dal politicians Socialist Janata (Democratic) politicians Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam Recipients of the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award