Vakkom Purushothaman

Vakkom B. Purushothaman (12 April 1928 – 31 July 2023) was an Indian politician who served as the Governor of Mizoram from 2011 to 2014, Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, state minister and Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Vakkom B. Purushothaman was born at Vakkom near Trivandrum, the capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore, 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) 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.

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. 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 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 Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 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.

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.