K. Muraleedharan: Difference between revisions

 

Muraleedharan started his political career within the Congress party as a [[Seva Dal]] worker. Thereafter, he held the posts of District chairman and State Chief of Kerala Seva Dal.<ref name="officialbiodata">[http://www.keralaassembly.org/lok/sabha/biodata.php4?no=61&name=K.%20Muraleedharan Kerala Legislative Assembly: Member profile]</ref> He was elected as Member of Parliament from the Calicut (Kozhikode) constituency in the [[1989 Indian general election|General Elections of 1989]], winning re-election in [[1991 Indian general election|1991]]. In the [[1996 Indian general election|1996 general election]], he lost his seat to the [[Janata Dal]] candidate [[M. P. Veerendra Kumar]] and subsequently failed in his come back attempt in the [[1998 Indian general election|1998 election]], before regaining the seat in [[1999 Indian general election|1999]].<ref name="ibn"/> Thereafter, he held the roles of General secretary, Vice-President of [[Pradesh Congress Committee|Kerala Congress Committee]] (KPCC) and became the President of [[Pradesh Congress Committee|KPCC]] during 2001–2004.

In February 2004, Muraleedharan was appointed as Minister of Power in the [[A. K. Antony]] Ministry, though he was not a member of the [[Kerala Legislative Assembly]].<ref>[http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/02/12/stories/2004021202580700.htm Muraleedharan sworn in Minister] – ''The Hindu'', 12 February 2004</ref> He was required to win a seat within six months to continue as the minister but lost in by-election from [[Wadakkancherry]]. Subsequently, he resigned in May that year. He is the only state Minister who was never MLA and never faced the legislative assembly.<ref>http://keralaassembly.org/min01.html</ref>

Later, Karunakaran rejoined the Congress party, while his son Muraleedharan opted to stay with the NCP, decrying his father's "betrayal".<ref>[http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2502/stories/20080201503303400.htm Return of Leader ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412023514/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2502/stories/20080201503303400.htm |date=12 April 2008 }} ''Frontline'', 19 January 2008</ref> Muraleedharan contested the [[2009 Indian general election|2009 Lok Sabha polls]] from the [[Wayanad]] constituency under the NCP ticket, but came only in third place, behind the Congress party and the [[Communist Party of India|CPI]].<ref>http://www.keralaassembly.org/lok/sabha/poll_results.php4?year=2009&no=4</ref>

In August 2009, he was expelled from the NCP and sacked as state chief of the party, as he openly expressed his desire to rejoin the Congress party.<ref name="newkerala">[http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-88125.html Kerala leader K Muraleedharan refused re-entry into Congress] – ''New Kerala''/IANS, 7 August 2009</ref> He was subsequently refused re-entry into the Congress party, the party leadership stating that the disparaging comments he had made about the party leadership whilst in opposition were too big a barrier to his re-joining.<ref name="newkerala"/><ref>[http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/11/21/stories/2009112157740400.htm Muraleedharan meets Antony] – The Hindu, 21 November 2009</ref> Muraleedharan pledged that he would "wait for any length of time" for the party to change its mind and readmit him, while his father Karunakaran stated that he would take up the matter with the national leadership of the Congress party, if necessary.<ref name="newkerala"/> He was readmitted to the Congress party in February 2011, and was given a ticket to contest the Assembly election from the Vattiyurkavu Assembly constituency (former Thiruvananthapuram North Constituency). Subsequently, he won his first assembly election after he defeated ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) supported independent candidate [[Cherian Philip]] by a margin of over 16,167 votes on 14 May 2011.<ref>http://expressbuzz.com/polls2011/Muraleedharan-wins-his-first-assembly-poll/274096.html{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was re-elected for the second time in 2016 defeating Kummanam Rajasekharan of [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] by a margin of 7622 votes.

In [[2019 Indian general election|Indian general election 2019]] he has been elected from [[Vatakara]] with a tremendous margin by defeating [[P. Jayarajan]] of [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] by a margin of 84663 votes.He was the official candidate of [[United Democratic Front (Kerala)|UDF]] in [[Nemom (State Assembly constituency)#:~:text=Nemom State assembly constituency is,Rajagopal of BJP|Nemom Constituency]] for [[2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|2021 Assembly Elections]],but lost against LDF candidate, V Sivankutty.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Congress fields giantkiller K Muraleedharan to 'win back' Nemom from BJP|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/assembly-elections/kerala/congress-fields-k-muraleedharan-to-win-back-nemom-from-bjp/articleshow/81496022.cms?from=mdr|access-date=2021-03-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kerala assembly polls: Congress releases list of 86 candidates, Oommen Chandy to contest Puthuppally|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2021/mar/14/kerala-assembly-polls-congress-releases-list-of-86-candidatesoommen-chandy-to-contest-puthuppally-2276552.html|access-date=2021-03-23|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>Though he fails he was able to improve his party's votes from 13,860 in 2016 assembly electionsto 36,524 votes in 2021 assembly elections.