Ramanna Rai Gadigudde (28 September 1930 – 6 October 2009) was an Indian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

and Member of Parliament who represented the

Kasaragod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kera ...

constituency of

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 ...

thrice in the

7th Lok Sabha The 7th Lok Sabha, (18 January 1980 – 31 December 1984) was elected in 1980 Indian general election. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India nine sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 7th Lo ...

9th Lok Sabha The 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) was elected during elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected ...

and

10th Lok Sabha The 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting members from Rajya Sabha, ...

respectively. He was a member of the

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 ...

Early life

Rai was born in an affluent Tulu-speaking

Bunt Bunt may refer to: People * Darrell Bunt (1902–1977), Royal Navy chaplain * Dick Bunt (1929–2021), American basketball player * Raymond Bunt (born 1944), Pennsylvania politician * Bunt Stephens (John L. Stephens, 1889–1951), or Uncle Bunt ...

family of landlords. He completed his education at Government college,

Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

and

Karnataka University Karnatak University (KUD) is a public state university in Dharwad, Karnataka, India. KUD was officially established in 1950 through the Karnatak University Act, 1949, passed by the legislature of the Bombay Province. The university is the s ...

earning the degrees of

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

and

L.L.B A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Political career

Rai's public life started with his active participation in the movement against the merger of Kasaragod with Kerala in 1956. Later he joined the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

(CPI) and served as the secretary of the Kasaragod local committee of undivided Communist Party from 1960 to 1964. After a division in the Communist party, he identified himself with CPM and served as member of the Kannur district committee of CPM from 1965 to 1986. He served as the president of Kasargod Municipal Council from 1968 to 1979 and got elected to the Lok Sabha from Kasaragod constituency thrice in the year 1980, 1989 and 1991.

Later life

Rai died on 6 October 2009. He had withdrawn himself from public life due to ill health. An

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

by conviction, his body was donated to the Pariyaram Medical College as per his wishes instead of being

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

according to the traditional

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

rites of the Bunt community to which he belonged.The Hindu : States / Kerala : Former MP M. Ramanna Rai passes away
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Ramanna Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala 2009 deaths 1930 births India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1989–1991 People from Kasaragod district India MPs 1980–1984 Indian atheists Lok Sabha members from Kerala