V. T. Balram (born 21 May 1978) is an Indian politician from

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 ...

and a member of 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 vice-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 ...

. He 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

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 ...

representing Thrithala constituency for two consecutive terms. Later he was defeated by M. B. Rajesh of

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

by a vote margin of 3173.

Early life and education

Balram was born to K. Sreenarayanan and V. T. Saraswathy on 21 May 1978, in Othalur near Thrithala in Palakkad district,

. He did his schooling from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Palakkad and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Jhalawar. He was University Union Councillor, Sree Krishna College, Guruvayur (1997) and Government Engineering College, Thrissur (2002); Senate Member,

University of Calicut The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a State ownership, state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to ...

(1999–2000 and 2006–2007); Editor, KSU State Kalasala (2007–2008); State Secretary,

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. Whil ...

(2009–2010); State General Secretary, Indian Youth Congress (2010–2013). He was elected a second time to the

in the

2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held on 16 May 2016 to elect 140 MLA (India), MLAs to the 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly. Voter turnout was 77.53%, up from 75.12% in the previous election. The result was declared on 19 May 20 ...

from the once communist bastion, Thrithala, at a time when his front, the UDF, managed to win only 47 seats out of the total 140. In

2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held in Kerala on 6 April 2021 to elect 140 Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), members to the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly. The results were declared on 2 May. The election saw the ...

, Balram lost the election to Former Lok Sabha Member of

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

M. B. Rajesh.

Cultural and political image

In 2016, he supported

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

in the controversy against

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

. He has admitted his son to a government school and declared that he does not want to raise him in any religion or caste. He is noted for his strong opposition to

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

and economic reservation for forward castes implemented by the LDF

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 ...

. A vegetarian for 19 years, he protested against the beef ban in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by eating beef with his friends and shared the video on social media. He was mocked by the

sympathizers for taking a photograph with transgender activist Sheethal Shyam during a

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

, for which then Lok Sabha Member M. B. Rajesh tendered an unconditional apology. In January 2018, he faced an attack for his unsavory comments in social media on the late communist leader A. K. Gopalan, accusing him of child abuse for falling in love with a 11-year-old girl.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balram, VT 1978 births Living people Politicians from Palakkad district Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Kerala MLAs 2011–2016 Kerala MLAs 2016–2021