Palathinal Joseph Joseph (born 10 June 1941) is an Indian politician from

Kerala Congress Kerala Congress is an Indian political party founded in Kottayam, Kerala on 9 October 1964, by a block of former Indian National Congress leaders led by K. M. George. The party is primarily active in central Kerala. Initially its main suppor ...

serving as the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

from

Thodupuzha Assembly Constituency Thodupuzha State assembly constituency is one of the 140 state legislative assembly constituencies in Kerala in southern India. It is also one of the seven state legislative assembly constituencies included in Idukki Lok Sabha constituency. ...

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 ...

. A former cabinet minister, Joseph entered Kerala politics through

in 1968.

Early life

P. J. Joseph was born on 10 June 1941 in a

Syro-Malabar The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Cathol ...

Nasrani family to Palathinal Joseph and Annamma at Purapuzha in

Idukki District Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

in central Kerala. He married Dr. Santha Joseph (died 2023), retired as Additional Director, Kerala Health Department, on 15 September 1971. The couple has four children, three sons and one daughter, named as Er.Apu John Joseph, Dr. Anu Yamuna, Antony Joseph and the late Jomon Joseph. Jomon Joseph, the youngest, suffered from Down's Syndrome, and died due to a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 2020 aged 34.

Political career

Joseph entered Kerala politics through

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 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, 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 (no ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

). He held various ministerial positions within the

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

As Home Minister (1978)

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

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

A. K. Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian lawyer, attorney and statesman who served as the Minister of Defence of India from 2006 to 2014, making him the longest serving Defence Minister in India. He previously served as ...

's ministry. He served this role for nearly 8 months. He resigned the position for his colleague

K.M Mani Karingozhackal Mani Mani (30 January 1933 – 9 April 2019) was an Indian politician and the chairman of Kerala Congress (M), one of the main factions of Kerala Congress, a party famous for farmers politics, church politics and fractionalism. ...

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. He was instrumental in delinking Pre Degree from Colleges and merged with School Education as +2.

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 politics, left-wing political parties led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the current List of current Indian ruling and opposition parties, r ...

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

Kerala Congress (M) Kerala Congress (Mani) or KEC(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 LDF sin ...

and an alliance member of United Democratic Front (UDF).

Kerala Congress (Joseph) Kerala Congress (Joseph) bbr. KEC(J)'' was a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. It was formed in 1964. KEC(J) was the breakaway fraction of Kerala Congress. The party merged with Kerala Congress (KEC). History Kerala Congress (J ...

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

Kerala Congress (Joseph) Kerala Congress (Joseph) bbr. KEC(J)'' was a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. It was formed in 1964. KEC(J) was the breakaway fraction of Kerala Congress. The party merged with Kerala Congress (KEC). History Kerala Congress (J ...

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) bbr. KC(B)is a registered 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. Ganesh ...

) and their parties merged forming the united

. This party split in 1987. P. J. Joseph continued in United Democratic Front (UDF) till 1989. He contested 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 ...

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipalityhttps://lsgkerala.gov.in/system/files/2017-10/localbodies.pdf in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located east of the district headquarters in Thrikkakara and a ...

and

Idukki Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

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 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 ...

's election in 2011,

Oommen Chandy Oommen Chandy (31 October 1942 – 18 July 2023) was an Indian lawyer and statesman who served as the 10th chief minister of Kerala, serving from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He served also as the Leader of the Opposition, leader of the opp ...

became

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. '' De facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites th ...

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

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) 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 bee ...

; he completed his term in 2016.

Chairman Of Kerala Congress

A power struggle erupted in the party between

Jose K. Mani Jose Karingozhackal Mani (born 29 May 1965) is an Indian politician and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, MP (Rajya Sabha) and former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, MP (Lok Sabha) from Kerala. He is the son of veteran politician K. M. Mani a ...

faction and P. J. Joseph fraction. The Election Commission intervened and it ruled in favor of

Jose K Mani Jose Karingozhackal Mani (born 29 May 1965) is an Indian politician and MP (Rajya Sabha) and former MP (Lok Sabha) from Kerala. He is the son of veteran politician K. M. Mani and the Chairman of Kerala Congress (M). Political Life He un ...

. Later, the faction led by P.J Joseph merged with

. On 27 April 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 Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

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 Home ministers of Kerala

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) bbr. KEC(J)'' was a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. It was formed in 1964. KEC(J) was the breakaway fraction of Kerala Congress. The party merged with Kerala Congress (KEC). History Kerala Congress (J ...

Chairman Of Kerala Congress

Controversies

See also

References

External links