Vakkom Purushothaman (born 12 April 1928) is an Indian politician who served as the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

from 2011 to 2014, Former Speaker of Kerala, state minister and former Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar.

Early life

Vakkom B. Purushothaman - a veteran Congress leader and advocate, was born at

Vakkom Vakkom is a area of Trivandrum Metropolitan Area near Kadakkavoor in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, India. It is 35 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. Vakkom panchayat is surrounded by back waters (Kayal). Neighbourin ...

near

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, the capital of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

, on 12 April 1928 as the eldest son of Bhanu Panicker and Bhavani and grand son of Sri. Pappu Tharakan, a notable businessman in Travancore. Beginning his political life as an active worker of the Students' Congress in 1946, he became a member of Vakkom Panchayat in 1953. Later, he served as President of the District Congress Committee, Thiruvananthapuram and the General Secretary and Vice–President of the

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (abbreviated as Kerala P. C. C. or the K. P. C. C.) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Kerala. The Indian National Congress currently leads the United Democratic Front alliance, the Oppositi ...

. He has been a member of

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 ...

for over 35 years.

Political life

Vakkom Purushothaman was elected 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 1970, 1977, 1980 and 1982 from

Attingal Attingal is a municipality in Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala state, India. It was the location of the Attingal kingdom, under Travancore. It is the headquarters of Chirayinkeezhu Taluk, and the ...

Constituency. From 1971 to 1977, he held the portfolio of Agriculture and Labour in the Ministry headed by

C. Achutha Menon Chelat Achutha Menon (13 January 1913 – 16 August 1991) was the Chief Minister of Kerala state for two terms. The first term was from 1 November 1969 to 1 August 1970 and the second 4 October 1970 to 25 March 1977. He was instrumental in ...

. From 1980 to 1981, he was the Minister for Health and Tourism in the Nayanar Ministry. He served as Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and then served for two terms as a

Member of parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct Elections in I ...

, 1984-1991, during which time he was also Chairman of the Committee on Public Undertakings and the Committee on Subordinate Legislation of Parliament. He was the Chairman of the Consultative Committee of Experts to the Inter Parliamentary Union for five years. In 1993-1996, he served as the

Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the representative of the Government of India in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the head of the union territory. In 1947, India achieved independence from the United Kingdom. Af ...

. In 1996, he lost in the Kerala Legislative Assembly election

. He was elected from Attingal in 2001 and became the Speaker for a second time, holding office from 2001 to 2004. In 2004 he was made the Minister for Finance and Excise in the Oommen Chandy led UDF government and he briefly officiated as Chief Minister in 2006.

Governor of Mizoram

On 26 August 2011 President Pratibha Patil appointed Vakkom B. Purushothaman as the new

Governor of Mizoram This is a list of governors of Mizoram, an Indian state part of Northeast India Powers and functions The Governor enjoys many different types of powers: *Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals, *Legislative p ...

in place of

Madan Mohan Lakhera Lt Gen (Retd.) Madan Mohan Lakhera, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (born 21 October 1937) is the former Governor of the Indian state of Mizoram. He held that position from July 2006 till September 2011. During 2004–2006, he was the Lieutenant Governor o ...

. Vakkom B. Purushothaman was sworn in as the 18th Governor of Mizoram on 2 September 2011. He resigned on 11 July 2014 from his post due to his transfer to

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

Personal life

Vakkom Purushothaman married his childhood sweetheart Lilly Purushothaman, and they have two sons and one daughter - Binu Purushothaman, Dr.Bindu Purushothaman. His elder son Biju died on 18 January 2012 after prolonged illness. Biju's death devastated him very much, but he never went to extreme grief.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purushothaman, Vakkom 1928 births Living people Governors of Mizoram Lieutenant governors of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Malayali politicians Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram Speakers of the Kerala Legislative Assembly Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Kerala MLAs 1977–1979 Kerala MLAs 1982–1987 Kerala MLAs 1970–1977 Kerala MLAs 1980–1982 Kerala MLAs 2001–2006 Indian National Congress (U) politicians