Rajaji Mathew Thomas is a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and a Communist Party of India politician from

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and ...

and was the MLA of Ollur from 2006 to 2011. Rajaji Mathew Thomas was the leader of All India Youth Federation and selected as national general secretary. He became the vice President of World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), based at Budapest from 1985 to 1996.

Personal life

He was born as the son of T.K. Thomas and Mariamma Thomas, on 12 May 1954, in

. He completed his education in St. Aloysius Higher Secondary School, Elthuruth and Sree Keralavarma College, Thrissur and got a M.A. (Master in Arts) degree. He is well versed in Malayalam, English, Hindi and Magyar (Hungarian) languages. He married Smt. K. Santha and has got one son and one daughter. He visited 78 countries across the world, as part of his career.

Political career

He entered politics through All India Students Federation (AISF), as the unit secretary of AISF in Sree Kerala Varma college. Later he became the district president and later National general Secretary of AISF. Later he became active in All India Youth Federation (AIYF). He became the vice President of World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), based at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

from 1985 to 1996. He held office of its commission on Asia and Oceania, Deputy Head of its Press and Information Department and Deputy Head of Peace and Disarmament Commission, Co-ordinator of the Permanent commission of the 13th world Festival of Youth and Students held in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

in 1989 and was Co-ordinator of Kerala social Forum 2004. He also performed as UN observer in the 1989

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

n President election and also participated in the Independence declaration of

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. He led the delegation presenting peace appeal on behalf of World Youth to George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, during the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

Summit. He was included in the WFDY delegation which presented its highest honor, the "WFDY diploma" to

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

, at the historic Wembley Stadium in London, for his contribution made in heightening the struggle against imperialism. He participated in the preparation of framing of a National Youth Policy initiated by then Indian Prime Minister V.P. Singh. He was also a member of National committee for youth programme headed by then Prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Rajaji was active with NGO works also and was president of "Green India" and General Secretary of "Strategic Action", voluntary organisations working on environmental and developmental issues. He became the National Council Member of Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1996. He was elected as Member of Legislative Assembly of Kerala, from Ollur constituency, in 2006. But in 2011 election, he got defeated by Congress candidate M.P. Vincent. He was working as district executive committee member of CPI and General Secretary of All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation, in Thrissur district. He was also working as Vice President of AIPSO state council. He is presently working as Executive committee member of CPI Kerala state Council. He contested the

2019 Indian general election in Kerala The 2019 Indian general election was held in Kerala on 23 April 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha. Alliances and parties The key alliances that fought for representation of Lok Sabha seats in Kerala are the UDF which is the Kerala state leg ...

as a candidate of LDF in Thrissur constituency and lost in this election to the Congress candidate T.N. Prathapan.

As journalist

Rajaji is at present editor of Janayugom newspaper, the organ of CPI in Kerala. He worked before as the sub-editor of Janayugom weekly, Editor of "Youth Life", fortnightly organ of AIYF National council. He has also worked as member of Editorial board of "world Youth", the official organ of WFDY. As a writer, he published a number of articles in English and Malayalam, presented papers and delivered lectures in Universities and Educational Institutions in India and abroad. He published three translated books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Rajaji Mathew Malayalam-language writers Malayali politicians People from Thrissur district 1954 births Living people Journalists from Kerala Communist Party of India politicians from Kerala Indian editors