Pulloli Chacko Thomas (born 31 October 1950) is an Indian politician who was Union Minister of State for Law and Justice for

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 ...

from 2003 to 2004 and a six-term member of

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-p ...

from 1989 to 2009. He is the Deputy Chairman of Kerala Congress

Political life

Thomas was a member of Lok Sabha from

9th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elec ...

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 ...

, serving for 20 years from 1989 to 2009. He was also Union Minister of State for Law and Justice from 2003 to 2004 in the

Third Vajpayee Ministry Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister of India for third time on 13 October 1999. He headed his Third Vajpayee Ministry. Here is the list of ministers in his ministry. Cabinet ministers ...

. His first contest in General election was in 1987, from

Vazhoor Vazhoor is a town in Kottayam district in the state of Kerala, India.It is a village, panchayat and block with headquarters at Kodungoor on NH183. Basically an agrarian community inhabits this part, whose income depends on rubber cultivation ...

Legislate Assembly Constituency, which he lost. Later in 1989 he contested in the Lok Sabha election from

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a town in the midlands directly to the east of Kochi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is located about from downtown Kochi, and is a growing urban centre in central Kerala. The town is also the starting po ...

as the candidate of

Kerala Congress (M) Kerala Congress (M) is a state-level political party in the Indian state of Kerala, currently led by chairman Jose K. Mani. It was formed by K. M. Mani in 1979, after a split from the Kerala Congress. They are part of the Left Democratic Front ...

and defeated

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the state of Kerala, India. It is the current ruling political alliance of Kerala, since 2016. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the oth ...

(LDF) candidate P. P. Esthos and P. J. Joseph, another Kerala Congress leader. He won all subsequent election from the constituency till 2009. His contest in 2004 as the candidate of National Democratic Alliance (NDA), where he defeated both the candidates of United Democratic Front (UDF) and

(LDF), was considered a landmark victory in the political history of Kerala. However, Supreme Court of India cancelled the results and disqualified him in 2006 on the ground that he used his religious background to woo voters during the polls. P. C. Thomas was elected as member of 6th Bar Council of Kerala in 1986. After his Lok Sabha term, he has filed about 15 public interest litigations as part-in-person, in the

High Court of Kerala The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issu ...

and Supreme Court of India In 2006, when Finance Minister

P. Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee ...

made an announcement that the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

will issue a commemorative coin dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Sree

Narayana Guru Narayana Guru, , (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritua ...

, P. C. Thomas suggested that coin' logo should be written both in Hindi and English. Since 2010, Thomas is the chairman of Kerala Congress (Thomas). Currently the party is in alliance with National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which he is a National Committee member. He is also the Chairman of ‘Karshaka Sanghatana Aikyavedi’, a farmers' non-political organization which is a platform of several associations of various types of farmers’ organizations in Kerala including those of

natural rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

farmers. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, P. C. Thomas ran for election again, this time from Kottayam Lok Sabha constituency, however he came third in the election which was won by Thomas Chazhikadan of Kerala Congress (Mani). On 17 March 2021, he announced that his party has left NDA alliance and joined UDF. The party would merge with P.J. Joseph led-

Kerala Congress (Joseph) Kerala Congress (Joseph) or Kerala Congress or Joseph Group is a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. It was formed in 1964. Kerala Congress (Joseph) was the brakeless fraction of Kerala Congress Party By election commission (1964-20 ...

and form Kerala Congress.

Personal life

P. C. Thomas is the fourth child of

P. T. Chacko Pulloli Thomas Chacko (9 April 1915 – 31 July 1964), was an Indian politician from Kottayam in central Kerala. A member of the Travancore and Travancore-Cochin Assemblies and the Constituent Assembly, Chacko served as the first Leader of Opp ...

and Mariyamma Chacko. Pullolil House is his residence. His father P. T. Chacko was a political stalwart who was a member of

Indian Constituent Assembly The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

representing Travancore-Cochin from 1949, a member representing

Meenachil Meenachil is the north-eastern region of Kottayam district in Kerala, south India. The name originates from Meenakshi, the Hindu Goddess. Pala is the main city in Meenachil. The arterial river of the district is also named Meenachil. Geogra ...

Lok Sabha Constituency in the

first Lok Sabha The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957. The First Session of this Lok Sabha commenced on 13 May 1952. ...

in 1952, first opposition leader of the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1957 and the Home Minister in Pattom Thanu PillaiI's ministry. Thomas has two sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, P. C. 1950 births Living people Indian Christians Indian Eastern Catholics Syro-Malabar Catholics India MPs 2004–2009 Malayali politicians India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Lok Sabha members from Kerala People from Kottayam district Sainik School alumni Kerala Congress (M) politicians Kerala Congress politicians Janata Party politicians