Thennala Balakrishna Pillai (11 March 1930 – 6 June 2025) was an Indian politician representing the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and was a Member of the Parliament representing

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 ...

in the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

, the upper house of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

. He was the president of

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Kerala. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates for local, s ...

. (KPCC) 1998–2001 and 2004–2005. Thennala Balakrishna Pillai died on 6 June 2025 at

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Early life

He was born at Sooranad,

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

Kingdom of Travancore The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as st ...

in a Nair family on 11 March 1930, as the son of N. Gopala Pillai and N. Eswari Amma and brought up there. He got married on 3 July 1963 to Sathi Devi and they had one daughter. He held a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from Mahatma Gandhi College, Thiruvananthapuram.

Political career

Pillai started his political life from very young age. He was elected as: * President of Sooranadu, Pulikulam ward Congress committee. President of Mandalam Congress committee of Sooranadu North in Kollam district. * President of Kunnathur Block Congress Committee. * President Anayadi Corporative service Bank, Sooranadu North * President Engineering Technicians Co-operative society * President District Co-operative Bank, Pathanamthitta * Vice President District Co-operative Bank, Kollam * Chairman Disciplinary Action Committee constituted by KPCC to recommend action against those who worked against those who contested and worked against the official candidates in the local bodies elections held in the year 1989 and again in 1996. * Chairman Committee constituted by KPCC to scrutinise the membership of the party in its organisational election. * Chairman Committee constituted by KPCC to go into allegations against Ministers for their interference in organisational election. * Chairman Committee constituted by KPCC to enquire into the reasons for the failure of CWC Member Shri. K. Karunakaran in Thrissur Parliament Elections * Chairman State Campaign Committee Chairman in 1996 Elections * Convener Congress MPs from Kerala * KPCC Member since 1962 * Treasurer District Congress Committee, Kollam * President of the Kollam DCC for 5.5 years * General Secretary, Kerala Pradesh Congress (I) Committee (K.P.C.C.) (1981–92) * Chairman Scrutiny Committee of KPCC for the organisational election (1990–1992) * Chairman, Disciplinary Action Committee of the KPCC (1998–2001) * President KPCC (1998–2001) *

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

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 ...

from Adoor Constituency (1977–80 and 1982–87) * July 1991 Elected to the

* Member, Rubber Board * April 1992 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha * April 2003 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha * Member, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram * Member Committee on Urban and Rural Development (April 1993 – April 1998) * Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development * Member, Joint Committee of the Houses of Parliament committee on salaries and allowance of the members of parliament (1992–1998) * Member, National River Conservation Authority * Member, Petition Committee of Rajya Sabha * Member Managing Committee State Co-operative Union Kerala * Member, Committee on Commerce * Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Consumer Affairs * Member, National Shipping Board * Member, Philatelic Advisory Committee * Member, Sub Committee for Special Economic Zones. * President Akhila Kerala Ayyyappa Seva Sangham

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, Thennala Balakrishna 1930 births 2025 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Rajya Sabha members from Kerala Malayali politicians Kerala MLAs 1977–1979 Kerala MLAs 1982–1987 Presidents of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee