Palathinal Joseph Joseph (born 10 June 1941) is an Indian politician from Kerala Congress serving as the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

from Thodupuzha Assembly Constituency in

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 ...

. A former cabinet minister, Joseph entered Kerala politics through Kerala Congress in 1968.

Early life

P. J. Joseph was born on 10 June 1941 to Palathinal Joseph and Annamma at

Purapuzha Purapuzha is a village in Idukki district in the Indian state of Kerala. Purapuzha could be reached by bus from Thodupuzha within 25 minutes. It is only away from Thodupuzha. Demographics India census A census is the procedure of systema ...

in Idukki District in central Kerala. He married Dr. Santha Joseph, retired as Additional Director, Kerala Health Department, on 15 September 1971. The couple has four children, three sons and one daughter, named as Appu John Joseph, Dr. Anu Yamuna, Antony Joseph and the late Jomon Joseph. Jomon Joseph, the youngest, suffered from

Down's Syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual disa ...

, and died due to a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 2020 aged 34.

Political career

Joseph entered Kerala politics through Kerala Congress in 1968. P. J. Joseph contested and won his first election from Thodupuzha to the Kerala legislative assembly. He won these elections on ten occasions (

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, 1980, 1982,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, 1996, 2006, 2011,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

). He held various ministerial positions within the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior mini ...

As Home Minister (1978)

Joseph's first time as a Minister was in 1978 as

Home Minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

in A. K. Antony's ministry. He served this role for nearly 8 months. He resigned the position for his colleague K.M Mani.

As Revenue minister (1981-1987)

Since 1981 Joseph became Revenue minister in K. Karunakaran's ministry. Joseph was Revenue minister between 1981 and 1982 and 1982–1987.

As Education minister (1996-2001)

In E. K. Nayanar's ministry between (1996 and 2001) Joseph was Education minister.

PWD minister (2006-2010)

He was short-term PWD minister in V. S. Achuthanandan's ministry in 2006 and 2010. He resigned twice. The first time he was accused of misbehaviour with a lady co-passenger. He was acquitted by the court. The second time was for leaving

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 ...

for united Kerala congress. It was after 23 years, Joseph's party again merged with

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 an alliance member of United Democratic Front (UDF).

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 ...

In 1979 he parted ways with Kerala congress leader K. M. Mani to form a

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 ...

new party. However in 1985 Kerala congress leaders K. M. Mani (from

), P. J. Joseph from

, R. Balakrishna Pillai (from

Kerala Congress (B) Kerala Congress (B) is a registered-unrecognized political party in Kerala, formed by R. Balakrishna Pillai, a former minister of the government of Kerala. At present, the party has one MLA in the state Legislative Assembly, namely K. B. Gane ...

) and their parties merged forming the united Kerala Congress. This party split in 1987. P. J. Joseph continued in United Democratic Front (UDF) till 1989. He contested 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-p ...

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 ...

and Idukki in 1989 and 1991, but was unsuccessful.

issue raised in Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha seat made him leave the alliance and join LDF. Since 1991 Joseph's party became part of the

(LDF) as an alliance. In 2010, after 23 years, Joseph's party again merged with

and an alliance member of United Democratic Front (UDF). On 30 April 2010, Joseph resigned from the LDF government and declared his party's merger with K. M. Mani's party. After UDF's win in Kerala Legislative Assembly's election in 2011,

Oommen Chandy Oommen Chandy, , (born 31 October 1943) is an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislati ...

became

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Fol ...

. Joseph was appointed minister for the 7th time, now with the portfolio of

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

; he completed his term in 2016.

Chairman Of Kerala Congress

A power struggle erupted in the party between Jose K. Mani faction and P. J. Joseph fraction. The Election Commission intervened and it ruled in favor of Jose K Mani. Later, the faction led by P.J Joseph merged with Kerala Congress. On April 27 an online meeting was convened by the party leadership in Thodupuzha and P.J Joseph was chosen as party chairman.

Controversies

Joseph resigned from the Kerala Cabinet on 4 September 2006 as he was accused of misbehaviour with a lady co-passenger on a Kingfisher flight. He was acquitted by court on 11 May 2009 due to insufficient evidence. He instituted the Gandhian Studies Centre and the Gandhi Centre for Sustainable Development.

References

External links

* * https://www.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/election-commission-freezes-kerala-congress-m-randila-symbol-1.5214284 * * https://www.manoramaonline.com/district-news/kottayam/2020/11/12/kottayam-kerala-congress-dispute-about-party-symbol.html
കേരള കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ്-എം എന്ന പേരും രണ്ടില ചിഹ്നവും: സ്റ്റേ 31 വരെ32582818.eceleaves-symbol-allotted-jose-k-mani-p-j-joseph-to-file-appeal-1.5018852congress-jacob-splits-johny-nellore-groups-to-merge-with-p-j-joseph-faction-1.4547638
*

* ttp://www.ashanet.org/library/articles/hindu071799.html Ashanet, An educative experiment {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, P. J. Living people Malayali politicians Loyola College, Chennai alumni Kerala Congress (M) politicians People from Idukki district Kerala MLAs 1970–1977 Kerala MLAs 1987–1991 Kerala MLAs 2016–2021 Kerala MLAs 2011–2016 Education Ministers of Kerala 1941 births Kerala Congress politicians

Early life

Political career

As Home Minister (1978)

As Revenue minister (1981-1987)

As Education minister (1996-2001)

PWD minister (2006-2010)

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 ...

Chairman Of Kerala Congress

Controversies

See also

References

External links