Maniyankode Padmaprabha Veerendra Kumar (15 August 1937 — 28 May 2020) was an Indian politician, writer and journalist, who was a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (2 June 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 National ...

. He was a member of the Loktantrik Janata Dal political party and president of the

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

state branch of the party. He was also the chairman and managing director of the Malayalam daily newspaper ''

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British. The word "Mathrubhumi" translates to 'mother land'. ...

''.

Life

Veerendra Kumar was born on 22 July 1936 to Marudevi Avva and M. K. Padmaprabha Goudar, a leader of

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and former MLA, in Kalpetta. The eldest of their eight children, he had six younger sisters and a younger brother. After schooling in Kalpetta and

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

, he did his master's in philosophy from the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College. As a politician, he was treasurer and a national committee member of the former

Samyukta Socialist Party Samyukta Socialist Party (; SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1974. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1965, Ram Manohar Lohia merged his Socialist Party (Lohia) with SSP and conteste ...

, state secretary of the Kerala Unit of the Socialist Party, one of the all India secretaries of the former Socialist Party, convener of the Opposition Co-ordination Committee in Kerala, vice president of the former

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

, and its president. He was arrested during The Emergency. From 1987–91 he was a member of the

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 30 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 ...

. Later, in 1996 he was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

, lower house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

from Kozhikode constituency and served as Union Minister of State for Finance in Deve Gowde Ministry from 21 February 1997 to 7 June 1997. He also served as Union Minister for Labour (Independent charge) with additional charges as Minister of State, Urban Affairs & Employment (Independent charges) and Parliamentary Affairs in I.K.Gujral Ministry from 10 June 1997 to March. He died on 28 May 2020 due to cardiac arrest at

. He was aged 83 when he died, and was suffering from many age-related illnesses. He was cremated with full state honours at the premises of his ancestral home in Kalpetta. He is survived by his daughters Asha, Nisha and Jayalakshmi, son M.V. Sreyamskumar (Also a politician, currently serving as the Managing Director of Mathrubhumi), and many grandchildren. Usha Veerandrakumar, his wife, too outlived for two years, dying on 28 October 2022.

Publications

His works as an author include: *''Samanwayathinte Vasantham'' *''Buddhante Chiri'' *''Gattum Kanacharadukalum'' *''Atmavilekkoru Theerthayathra'' *''Prathibhayute Verukal Thedi'' *''Changampuzha: Vidhiyute Vettamrigam'' *''Thirinjhunokkumbol'' *''Lokavyapara Samkhadanayum Oorakkudukkukalum'' (Gattinu Seshamulla Oranweshanam) *''Roshathinte Vithukal'' *''Adhinivesathinte Adiyozhukukal'' *''Hymavathabhoovil'' *''Ramantedhukkam'' *''Vivekanandan: Sanyasiyum Manushyanum''

Awards

* V. R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan Janmasadabdi Award (2009) * Kendra Sahitya Academy Award (2010) - for ''Haimavatha bhoovil''

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, M. P. Veerendra 1936 births 2020 deaths India MPs 2004–2009 Malayali politicians People from Wayanad district Malayalam-language journalists India MPs 1996–1997 Lok Sabha members from Kerala Samyukta Socialist Party politicians Janata Dal (United) politicians Janata Dal politicians Rajya Sabha members from Kerala Loktantrik Janata Dal politicians Socialist Janata (Democratic) politicians Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam Recipients of the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award