Vakkom Purushothaman

His Excellency Vakkom Purushothaman
9th Governor of Mizoram
In office 2 September 2011 (2011-09-02)[1] – 6 July 2014 (2014-07-06)
Chief Minister	Lal Thanhawla
Preceded by	Madan Mohan Lakhera
Succeeded by	Kamla Beniwal
14th Governor of Tripura
In office 30 June 2014 (2014-06-30) – 14 July 2014 (2014-07-14)
Chief Minister	Manik Sarkar
Preceded by	Devanand Konwar
Succeeded by	Padmanabha Acharya
Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly
In office 2001 - 2004 1982 - 1984
Minister of Finance and Excise
In office 2004 - 2006
6th Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
In office 19 March 1993 (1993-03-19) – 18 March 1996 (1996-03-18)
Preceded by	Surjit Singh Barnala
Succeeded by	Ishwari Prasad Gupta
Member of Parliament
In office 1984 - 1991
Minister of Health and Tourism
In office 1980 - 1981
Minister of Agriculture and Labour
In office 1971 - 1977
Member of Legislative Assembly-Attingal
In office 2001 - 2006 1970 - 1984
Personal details
Born	(1928-04-12) 12 April 1928 (age 93) Vakkom, Kingdom of Travancore, British India (present day Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Lilly Purushothaman
Children	Dr.Bindu Purushothaman KIMS HEALTH TRIVANDRUM

Vakkom Purushothaman (born 12 April 1928) is an Indian politician who served as the Governor of Mizoram from 2011 to 2014, Former Speaker of Kerala, state minister and former Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar.

Early life[]

Vakkom B. Purushothaman - a veteran Congress leader and advocate, was born at Vakkom near Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore, on 12 April 1928 as the eldest son of Bhanu Panicker and Bhavani and grand son of Sri. Pappu Tharakan, a notable businessman in Travancore.^[2]

Beginning his political life as an active worker of the Students' Congress 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. He has been a member of All India Congress Committee for over 35 years.^[3]

Political life[]

Vakkom Purushothaman was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly 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.^[4] 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, 1984-1991, 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.^[5][6]

In 1993-1996, he served as the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In 1996, he lost in the Kerala Legislative Assembly election Attingal. 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Personal life[]

Vakkom Purushothaman married his childhood sweetheart Lilly Purushothaman, and they have two sons and one daughter - Binu Purushothaman, Dr.Bindu Purushothaman.^[3] His elder son Biju died on 18 January 2012 after prolonged illness. Biju's death devastated him very much, but he never went to extreme grief.

References[]