Najeeb Kanthapuram MLA | |
|---|---|
നജീബ് കാന്തപുരം | |
 | |
| Member of theKerala Legislative Assembly forPerinthalmanna | |
| In office 2021–Incumbent | |
| Preceded by | Manjalamkuzhi Ali |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1975-04-20)20 April 1975 (age 50) Kozhikode[1] |
| Residence(s) | Pandikkadavil House, Kanthapuram,Unnikulam P O,Kozhikode district,Kerala-673574[1] |
| Alma mater | |
Najeeb Kanthapuram is an Indian writer, academic, newspaper editor, journalist.[2][3][4] He was elected as a member ofKerala Legislative Assembly fromPerinthalmanna on 2 May 2021.[5]
Najeeb Kanthapuram was born to Muhammad Master atKozhikode on 20 April 1975.[1] He was graduated as aBachelor of Arts fromFarook College,Kozhikode, and as aBachelor of Education fromUniversity of Calicut in the year 1996.[1] He was a journalist who worked withChandrika (newspaper) over 20 years.[1] He worked inChandrika (newspaper) in different roles and resigned while he was working as Chief Sub Editor. He has started his political career as unit president ofMuslim Students Federation. Later on he became panchayath office bearer of Muslim youth league, then president ofKoduvally constituencyMuslim Youth League. Later he worked as district youth league treasurer two times. Then he was elected as district youth league president by election. Then he became the senior vice president ofMYL, Kerala State.[citation needed]
Earlier, Najeeb Kanthapuram had been the senior vice-president ofMYL since December 2016.[4][2] Due to the end of term of the last sitting MLAManjalamkuzhi Ali, Perinthalmanna went to poll as a part of2021 Kerala general election on 6 April 2021.[6] Najeeb Kanthapuram was the candidate fielded byUDF from Perinthalmanna.[7][8] There were 217,959 registered voters in Perinthalmanna Constituency for the election.[9] Najeeb Kanthapuram won the election by a narrow margin of 38 votes.[10][11][5]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IUML | Najeeb Kanthapuram | 76,530 | 46.21% |  0.68 | |
| LDF | K. P. M. Musthafa | 76,492 | 46.19% | 0.31 | |
| BJP | Suchitra Mattada | 8,021 | 4.84% |  0.93 | |
| Independent | Adv. Abdul Afsal. P. T | 906 | 0.55% | N/A | |
| NOTA | None of the above | 867 | 0.52% | 0.19 | |
| Independent | Najeeb Kutteeri | 828 | 0.50% | N/A | |
| Independent | Muhammad Musthafa. K. P | 751 | 0.45% | N/A | |
| Independent | Musthafa. P. K | 750 | 0.45% | N/A | |
| Independent | Musthafa S/O Muhammad | 471 | 0.28% | N/A | |
| Margin of victory | 38 | 0.02% | 0.37 | ||
| Turnout | 1,62,875[9] | 74.73%[9] | 2.93 | ||
| IUMLhold | Swing | 0.68 | |||
Apart from being a journalist he made imprints in his career as a lyricist and director. He directed "INIYUM" a socially relevant docu-fiction film based on Nandigram Bengal. He contributed as a lyricist in "'പാടുക നിലാവേ" (Paaduka Nilaave), a ghazal music album composed byV.T. Murali. Singers of the album wereM. Jayachandran, P. Sujatha, Venugopal. In 2013MT Vasudevan Nair released the album "JAYAHE" a revolutionary song written during CPIM Protest gained wide popularity. The song containing the lyrics "ഇത്രയേയുള്ളൂവെന്നറിയുവാന് നമ്മളെത്രദൂരം നടന്നു" (ithreyulluvennariyuvaan nammalethra dhooram nadanu) became popular among the people.
He won several achievements in poetry and speeches since his student life. In the year 2004, he won IMA State award for the feature story അര്ബുദത്തിന്റെ തീ നാമ്പുകള്, (arbudhathinte thee naambukal) awarded by then health minister M.A. Kuttapan. In 2011, he won K.V. Surendranath state award for best editorial for "ലജ്ജിച്ചു തല താഴ്ത്തുക നാം" (lajjichu thalathaythuka naam) a socially relevant editorial published inChandrika daily on 9 December 2010. He received the award from the famous poetO.N.V. Kurup at the award ceremony held inTrivandrum.[citation needed]