K. Karunakaran

K. Karunakaran ( Kannoth Karunakaran ; Malayalam കെ.കരുണാകരൻ ; * July 5, 1918 in Kannur , Madras ; † December 23, 2010 in Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala ) was an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress (INC), who was among other things four times Chief Minister from Kerala , was a member of the Rajya Sabha between 1995 and 1998 and India's Minister of Industry from June 1995 to May 1996. Most recently he was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1998 to 2004 .

Life

Studied, artist and MP in Kerala

Karunakaran, who from the then British-Indian Malabar district town of Kannur native, graduated after visiting the Raja's high school studies at the College of Arts in Trissur and then worked as an artist, but also as a social worker and trade union functionary .

He began his political career in local politics and was a member of the Trissur municipal council from 1945 to 1947. On May 3, 1947 he was one of the founding members of the trade union federation INTUC ( Indian National Trade Union Congress ) . Shortly thereafter, after India's independence from the United Kingdom on August 15, 1947, he was elected in 1948 for the Indian National Congress as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the then state of Cochin , of which he was a member until 1949. In 1952 he became a member of the Legislative Assembly of the state of Travancore-Cochin , which was formed from the merger of the state of Cochin with the state of Travancore , of which he was a member until 1954. During this time he was also Parliamentary Director (Chief Whip ) of the INC group there . In 1957 he was also a member of the Indian delegation at a conference of the International Labor Organization .

In 1965 Karunakaran was elected for the first time as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Kerala for the Congress Party, to which he belonged for seven legislative terms until 1995 after his re-elections in 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987 and 1992 . During this time he was opposition leader from 1967 to 1969 during the tenure of Chief Minister EM Sankaran Namboodiripad of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)). At the same time he was chairman of the Legislative Assembly Committee on Public Accounts from 1968 to 1970, and since 1969 he has also been a member of the Congress Party's Working Committee.

Four-time Chief Minister of Kerala

In 1971, Karunakaran was appointed to the government of the state of Kerala by Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon , who also belonged to the Marxist - Communist Party of India, where he served as Minister of the Interior until 1977.

On April 11, 1977, he succeeded Menon as Chief Minister of Kerala for the first time, but after two weeks on April 25, 1977 he gave up this office to his fellow party member AK Antony . After the end of his term in office, he was opposition leader for the second time in 1978 during the tenure of Chief Minister PK Vasudevan Nair of the CPI (M). He held the position of leader of the opposition for the third time between January 1980 and October 1981 during the tenure of Chief Minister EK Nayanar , who also belonged to the Marxist-Communist Party.

After Kerala until 27 December 1981 of 20 October 1980 under the Presidential Administration ( President's rule ) was, Karunakaran was on 28 December 1981 for the second time Chief Minister of the State and exercised the office until March 16 in 1982 before following Kerala was governed again under the presidential administration.

He then became Chief Minister of Kerala for the third time on May 24, 1982 and held the office for almost five years until he was replaced by the CPI (M) politician EK Nayanar on March 26, 1987. During his tenure, he served as Prime Minister for the fourth time between March 1987 and June 1991. In addition, he was a member of the Congress Party's parliamentary committee since 1984 and, in 1987, chairman of the socio-economic committee of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the most important decision-making body of the Congress party.

On June 24, 1991, Karunakaran succeeded Nayanar for the fourth time as Chief Minister of Kerala and held this office for almost four years until he was replaced by his fellow party member AK Antony on March 22, 1995. During this time he was also chairman of the population committee of the legislative assembly from Kerala.

Member of Rajya Sabha, Minister of Industry and member of Lok Sabha

After the end of his tenure as Chief Minister of Kerala, he became a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament on April 25, 1995 , to which he was a member until March 3, 1998. During this time he was a member of the Committee on Science and Technology and the Committee on Environment and Forests and a member of the Advisory Board of the Ministry of Commerce.

In June 1995 Karunakaran was appointed by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to his cabinet , which he served as Minister of Industry until the end of Rao's term on May 16, 1996.

In the elections in February and March 1998 he was elected to the Congress Party as a member of the twelfth Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, and represented the constituency of Mukundapuram, which belongs to Kerala . During this time, he was chairman of the energy committee and its sub-committees between 1998 and 1999. At the same time he was a member of the Rules Committee and the Committee for General Affairs as well as the Advisory Board of the Ministry of Railways.

Karunakaran was re-elected a member of the Lok Sabha in the early elections in September and October 1999 and was a member of this until the end of the 13th legislative period in May 2004. During this time he was again a member of the Rules Committee and the Committee on Transport and Tourism.

His marriage to Kalyanikutty Amma on June 2, 1954 resulted in a son and a daughter. Karunakaran died on December 23, 2010.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Rajya Sabha
• Entry on the Lok Sabha homepage
• Entry in rulers.org
• Karunakaran, former Kerala chief minister, is dead . In: The Economic Times, December 23, 2010

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chief Ministers of Kerala (rulers.org)
2. ↑ December 2010 (rulers.org)