V. Muraleedharan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of State for External Affairs | |
| In office 31 May 2019 (2019-05-31) – 11 June 2024 (2024-06-11) | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | S. Jaishankar |
| Preceded by | V. K. Singh |
| Succeeded by | Kirti Vardhan Singh |
| Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs | |
| In office 30 May 2019 (2019-05-30) – 11 June 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Prahlad Joshi |
| Preceded by | Vijay Goel |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 2018 (2018-04-03) – 2 April 2024 | |
| President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Kerala | |
| In office 2010 (2010) – 2015 (2015) | |
| Succeeded by | Kummanam Rajasekharan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-12-12)12 December 1958 (age 66) Eranholi,Kerala,India |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse | |
| Parents |
|
| Alma mater | Government Brennen College, Thalassery |
| Website | vmuraleedharan |
Vellamvelly Muraleedharan (born 12 December 1958) is an Indianpolitician fromKerala who served asMinister of State forExternal Affairs andParliamentary Affairs of India from 2019 to 2024. He was the eighth State President ofBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala.[1][2][3] He was also aMember of Parliament in theRajya Sabha. He was sworn in as aUnion Minister on 30 May 2019. On 12 June 2019, Muraleedharan was appointed GovernmentDeputy Chief Whip in the Rajya Sabha.
Muraleedharan was born to Vannathanveetil Gopalan and Nampally Vellamvelly Devaki Amma on 12 December 1958 at Eranholi, Thalassery inKannur District. Muraleedharan got his family name,Vellamvelly, throughmatrilineal succession.
Muraleedharan was educated at Kodakkalam UP School, and thereafter atSt Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Thalassery.[4] He is a graduate in English literature fromGovernment Brennen College, Thalassery. He was closely associated withAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) right from his school days.[5]
Muraleedharan began his political activities during the days ofNational Emergency that gripped India from June 1975 to March 1977. In 1978 as the Taluk President, he led ABVP in Thalassery. He became the Kannur District Secretary in 1979 and the State Joint Secretary of ABVP in 1980.[6]
Muraleedharan shifted his activities to the RSS atKozhikode and became a full-time worker of ABVP. He quit his job later and was elected as the State Organizing Secretary of ABVP in 1983 at the age of 25. From 1987 to 1990, he also held the additional responsibility as All India Secretary of ABVP.[7] During his 11 years tenure (1983–1994) as the State Organising Secretary,[8] he worked closely withK.N. Govindacharya andDattatraya Hosabale, who were then the successive South Zone Organising Secretaries of the ABVP. The ABVP team during 1983–1994 at the state and national level had leaders includingAnanth Kumar (Karnataka),Sushil Modi (Bihar),Jagat Prakash Nadda, (Himachal Pradesh), Muraleedhara Rao (Rajasthan), Harendra Kumar (Former All India General Secretary),Om Prakash Kohli (All India President), Professor LateBal Apte, (All India President),Vinod Tawde and Chandrakant Patil (All India General Secretaries).[9]
Muraleedharan left forMumbai when he was appointed All India General Secretary of ABVP for the term 1994–1996.[10]
Muraleedharan returned to Kerala in 1997 on a research project of Khadi and Village Industries Commission atTrivandrum.[11]
In 1998, Muraleedharan married Dr. K. S. Jayasree who is currently a Sanskrit lecturer atSree Narayana College, Nattika. They live atEranhipalam,Kozhikode.[12] The couple have no children.
Muraleedharan's formal entry into the fore of the BJP took place during the1998 Lok Sabha elections. He was deputed to assistVenkaiah Naidu at the BJP Central Election Control Room atNew Delhi.[13]
In 1999, Muraleedharan was appointed Vice Chairman ofNehru Yuva Kendra underDepartment of Youth Affairs and Sports,Government of India.[14]
In 2004, Muraleedharan was appointed the National convener of NGO cell of BJP. Thereafter in 2005, he was made the All India convener of BJP training cell.[15]
During his tenure as the BJP Kerala Vice president (2006–2010), his major assignments were to provide ideological orientation to the party workers in Kerala as part of training cell activities and impart and oversee training to the local body members of the BJP. He contested Loksabha election from Kozhikode Parliamentary Constituency in 2009.[16]
In January 2010 he was elected as the State President of the Kerala BJP.[17] He was elected for his second term in the office in January 2013.[18]
The Kerala BJP had a vote share of 10.8 percent in the 2014 Lok Sabha Election whereas it recorded 6.4 percent in 2009. The total votes BJP got in the local body elections was nearly 28 Lakhs.[19] The 2014–2015 membership drive has expanded the party membership base from 5.75 lakhs to 20 lakhs.[20]
In April 2018, he was elected to Rajya Sabha the upper house of Parliament. He is the 5th ever BJP MP from Kerala. Currently, he is the state in-charge of Andhra Pradesh BJP.[21]
In the2024 Indian general election, he contested for BJP fromAttingal Lok Sabha constituency,[22] but ended up in third place.[23]
| Election | Year | Party | Constituency | Opponent | Result | Margin | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loksabha | 2009 | BJP | Kozhikode | INC | M. K. Raghavan | Lost | 252,591 | ||
| 2024 | BJP | Attingal | INC | Adoor Prakash | Lost | 16,272 | |||
| Kerala Legislative Assembly | 2016 | BJP | Kazhakootam | CPI(M) | Kadakampally Surendran | Lost | 7,347[24] | ||
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