Vakkom B. Purushothaman (12 April 1928 – 31 July 2023) was an Indian politician who served as the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

from 2011 to 2014, Speaker 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 ...

, state minister and

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

. Vakkom B. Purushothaman was born at Vakkom near

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the 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 largest and ...

, the capital of the erstwhile

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 ...

, on 12 April 1928, as the eldest son of Bhanu Panicker and Bhavani Amma. He was also the grandson of Pappu Tharakan, a notable businessman in Travancore. He started his political life as an active worker of the Students' Congress (now called

Kerala Students Union The Kerala Students Union (abbreviated KSU) is the largest students organization in Kerala, India. It functions as the student wing of the INC. Organisation have strong ideology of Indian National Congress party. KSU was founded in 1957 at A ...

) in 1946, he became a member of Vakkom Panchayat in 1953. Later, he served as President of the District Congress Committee, Thiruvananthapuram and the General Secretary and Vice–President of the

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 has been a member of

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

for over 35 years.

Political life

Vakkom Purushothaman was elected to the

in 1970, 1977, 1980 and 1982 from Attingal constituency. From 1971 to 1977, he held the portfolio of Agriculture and Labour in the Ministry headed by C. Achutha Menon. From 1980 to 1981, he was the Minister for Health and Tourism in the Nayanar Ministry. He served as Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and then served for two terms as a

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections ...

, 1984–1991 representing Alappuzha constituency, during which time he was also Chairman of the Committee on Public Undertakings and the Committee on Subordinate Legislation of Parliament. He was the Chairman of the Consultative Committee of Experts to the Inter Parliamentary Union for five years. From 1993 to 1996, he served as the

of the

. In 1996, he lost in the Kerala Legislative Assembly election from Attingal constituency. He was elected from Attingal in 2001 and became the Speaker for a second time, holding office from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, he was made the Minister for Finance and Excise in the Oommen Chandy led UDF government and he briefly officiated as Chief Minister in 2006.

Governor of Mizoram

On 26 August 2011, President Pratibha Patil appointed Vakkom B. Purushothaman as the new Governor of Mizoram in place of Madan Mohan Lakhera. Vakkom B. Purushothaman was sworn in as the 18th Governor of Mizoram on 2 September 2011. He resigned on 11 July 2014 from his post due to his transfer to

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

Personal life and death

Purushothaman married his childhood sweetheart Dr. Lily Purushothaman, and they had two sons and one daughter; Biju, Binu and Bindu. His elder son Biju died on 18 January 2012. Vakkom Purushothaman died on 31 July 2023, at the age of 95.Former Kerala speaker Vakkom Purushothaman dies at 95
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purushothaman, Vakkom 1928 births 2023 deaths Governors of Mizoram Lieutenant governors of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Malayali politicians Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram Speakers of the Kerala Legislative Assembly Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Kerala MLAs 1977–1979 Kerala MLAs 1982–1987 Kerala MLAs 1970–1977 Kerala MLAs 1980–1982 Kerala MLAs 2001–2006 Indian National Congress (U) politicians Finance ministers of Kerala