Gobalakrishnan Nagapan (born 23 March 1960), commonly referred to as N. Gobalakrishnan, is a

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He was the Member of the

Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, lit. "People's Assembly") and the D ...

for the

Padang Serai Padang Serai or lemongrass field, a little town in Kulim District, Kedah, Malaysia. The sleepy hollow, surrounded by oil palm plantations and the nearby Kulim High-tech Industrial Zone has 56 percent Malay, 23 percent Indians and 12 percent C ...

constituency in

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...

from 2008 to 2013. He was elected to the Parliament as a member of the

People's Justice Party The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

(PKR) in the opposition

Pakatan Rakyat The People's Alliance ( ms, Pakatan Rakyat; abbrev: PR) was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DA ...

coalition, but in 2011 left the party to sit as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. Gobalakrishnan on 8 May 2017 rejoined back Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) after leaving it 18 years ago to join PKR.

Personal life

Gobalakrishnan was born in 1960 in

Sitiawan Sitiawan (alternate spelling: Setiawan; origin: from Malay, a portmanteau of '' Setia Kawan'', meaning "Loyal Friend") is a mukim and town in Manjung District, Perak, Malaysia. The region spans an area of . In the year 2000, the populat ...

. He is married to Vasanthi Ramalingam, a former athlete, and has three children.

Controversy

In September 2009, Gobalakrishnan was arrested for allegedly using criminal force to obstruct a police officer. He was found guilty and fined 3,000 ringgit. In December 2010, he spoke out against his party's leader, Anwar Ibrahim, suggesting that he make way for his daughter

Nurul Izzah Anwar Nurul Izzah binti Anwar ( Jawi: ; born 19 November 1980) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Permatang Pauh from May 2018 to November 2022 and for Lembah Pantai from March 2008 to May 2018. A member of the ...

. He resigned from the party the following month to sit as an independent, announcing plans to form a non-governmental organisation. He recontested Padang Serai at the 2013 election as an Independent, having unsuccessfully sought the nomination of the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

coalition. Without a party ticket he garnered less than one percent of the vote and lost his deposit. In April 2019, the Putrajaya Court of Appeal ruled Gobalakrishnan has to pay RM150,000 in damages for defaming and RM5,000 in costs to lawyer and former

Malaysian Bar The Malaysian Bar (Malay: Badan Peguam Malaysia) is a professional body which regulates the profession of lawyers in peninsular Malaysia. In Malaysia, there is no distinction between a barrister and a solicitor, in that, it is a fused profes ...

president Manjeet Singh Dhillon.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gobalakrishnan, N Living people 1960 births People from Perak People from Sitiawan Malaysian politicians of Indian descent Malaysian Indian Congress politicians People's Justice Party (Malaysia) politicians Independent politicians in Malaysia Members of the Dewan Rakyat 21st-century Malaysian politicians