P. C. Thomas

2021-12-22T11:29:49Z

2409:4050:2E3B:6B1C:E058:E911:E0CF:1BD2:

{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{distinguish|P. T. Thomas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = P. C. Thomas
|image = P C Thomas.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|10|31|df=yes}}
|birth_place =[[Kanjirappally]], [[Kottayam district|Kottayam]], [[Travancore–Cochin|State of Travancore–Cochin]]<br>(present day [[Kerala]]), India
|nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]
|death_date =
|death_place =

|office = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
|term_start = {{Start date|1989||}}
|term_end = {{End date|2009||}}
|constituency = [[Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency)|Muvattupuzha]]
|predecessor = George Joseph Mundackal
|successor = ''Office abolished''

|office2 = [[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Minister of State for Law and Justice]], [[Government of India]]
|term_start2 = {{Start date|2003||}}
|term_end2 = {{End date|2004||}}
|constituency2 = [[Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency)|Muvattupuzha]]

|party = [[Kerala Congress]]
|otherparty = [[Kerala Congress (M)]]<br>(till 2004)

|alma_mater = [[Sainik School Kazhakootam]]
|spouse = Marykutty Thomas
|children = 3
|date = 23 September|
|year = 2006|
}}

'''P. C. Thomas''' (born 31 October 1950), is an Indian politician who was Union Minister of State for Law and Justice for [[Kerala]] from 2003 to 2004 and a six-term member of [[Lok Sabha]] from 1989 to 2009. He is the Deputy Chairman of of [[Kerala Congress]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zeenews.india.com/home/kerala-mp-p-c-thomas-quits-nda_237586.html|title = Kerala MP P C Thomas quits NDA|date = 26 August 2005}}</ref>

== Political life ==
Thomas was a member of Lok Sabha from [[9th Lok Sabha]] to [[14th Lok Sabha]], serving for 20 years from 1989 to 2009. He was also Union Minister of State for Law and Justice from 2003 to 2004 in the [[Third Vajpayee ministry|Third Vajpayee Ministry]].

His first contest in General election was in 1987, from [[Vazhoor]] Legislate Assembly Constituency, which he lost. Later in 1989 he contested in the Lok Sabha election from [[Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency)|Muvattupuzha]] as the candidate of [[Kerala Congress (M)]] and defeated [[Left Democratic Front (Kerala)|Left Democratic Front]] (LDF) candidate P. P. Esthos and [[P. J. Joseph]], another Kerala Congress leader. He won all subsequent election from the constituency till 2009. His contest in 2004 as the candidate of [[National Democratic Alliance]] (NDA), where he defeated both the candidates of [[United Democratic Front (Kerala)|United Democratic Front]] (UDF) and [[Left Democratic Front (Kerala)|Left Democratic Front]] (LDF), was considered a landmark victory in the political history of Kerala.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://zeenews.india.com/home/kerala-mp-p-c-thomas-quits-nda_237586.html|title=Kerala MP P C Thomas quits NDA|agency=[[Zee News]]|date=26 August 2005|accessdate=10 September 2019}}</ref> However, [[Supreme Court of India]] cancelled the results and disqualified him in 2006 on the ground that he used his religious background to woo voters during the polls.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2006/oct/31kerala.htm|title=Kerala MP P C Thomas disqualified|website=[[Rediff.com]]|date=31 October 2006|accessdate=10 September 2019}}</ref>

P. C. Thomas was elected as member of 6th Bar Council of Kerala in 1986.

After his Lok Sabha term, he has filed about 15 public interest litigations as part-in-person, in the [[Kerala High Court|High Court of Kerala]] and Supreme Court of India

In 2006, when Finance Minister [[P. Chidambaram]] made an announcement that the [[Government of India]] will issue a commemorative coin dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Sree [[Narayana Guru]], P. C. Thomas suggested that coin' logo should be written both in Hindi and English.<ref>{{cite news|date=23 May 2006|title=Commemorative coin on Sree Narayana Guru's 150th birth anniversary|website=[[Oneindia]]|url=https://www.oneindia.com/2006/05/23/commemorative-coin-on-sree-narayana-gurus-150th-birth-anniversary-1148378143.html|accessdate=10 September 2019}}</ref>

Since 2010, Thomas is the chairman of Kerala Congress (Thomas). Currently the party is in alliance with [[National Democratic Alliance|National Democratic Alliance (NDA)]], of which he is a National Committee member. He is also the Chairman of ‘Karshaka Sanghatana Aikyavedi’, a farmers' non-political organization which is a platform of several associations of various types of farmers’ organizations in Kerala including those of [[natural rubber]] farmers.<ref name="nie">{{cite news|date=24 March 2019|title=Will repeat Muvattupuzha win: P C Thomas|work=[[The New Indian Express]]|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2019/mar/24/will-repeat-muvattupuzha-win-1954939.html|accessdate=10 September 2019}}</ref>

In [[2019 Indian general election in Kerala|2019]], P. C. Thomas ran for election again,<ref name="nie" /> this time from [[Kottayam (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kottayam Lok Sabha constituency]], however he came third in the election which was won by [[Thomas Chazhikadan]] of Kerala Congress (Mani).

On 17 March 2021, he announced that his party has left NDA alliance and joined [[United Democratic Front (Kerala)|UDF]]. The party would merge with P.J. Joseph led-[[Kerala Congress (Joseph)]] and form [[Kerala Congress]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=P C Thomas to quit NDA; to merge with P J Joseph|url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/p-c-thomas-to-quit-nda-to-merge-with-p-j-joseph-1.5522785|access-date=2021-03-17|website=Mathrubhumi|language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
P. C. Thomas is the fourth child of [[P. T. Chacko]] and Mariyamma Chacko. Pullolil House is his residence. His father P. T. Chacko was a political stalwart who was a member of [[Constituent Assembly of India|Indian Constituent Assembly]] representing [[Travancore-Cochin]] from 1949, a member representing [[Meenachil]] Lok Sabha Constituency in the [[1st Lok Sabha|first Lok Sabha]] in 1952, first opposition leader of the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1957 and the Home Minister in [[Pattom Thanu Pillai|Pattom Thanu PillaiI]]'s ministry. Thomas has two sons and a daughter.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{14th LS members from Kerala}}
{{13th LS members from Kerala}}
{{12th LS members from Kerala}}
{{11th LS members from Kerala}}
{{10th LS members from Kerala}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, P. C.}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian Christians]]
[[Category:Indian Eastern Catholics]]
[[Category:Syro-Malabar Catholics]]
[[Category:14th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Malayali politicians]]
[[Category:9th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:10th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:11th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:12th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:13th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Kerala]]
[[Category:People from Kottayam district]]
[[Category:Sainik School alumni]]
[[Category:Kerala Congress (M) politicians]]
[[Category:Kerala Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Janata Party politicians]]

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P. C. Thomas