Pattom A. Thanu Pillai ministry explained

Cabinet Name:Pattam Thanu Pillai Ministry
Cabinet Number:2nd
Jurisdiction:Kerala
Incumbent:22 February 1960 – 26 September 1962
Date Formed:22 February 1960
Date Dissolved:26 September 1962
Political Party:

Opposition Leader:E. M. S. Namboodiripad
Previous:First E. M. S. Namboodiripad ministry
Successor:R. Sankar Ministry
Election:1960

The Pattom A. Thanu Pillai ministry was a Kerala government ministry formed on 22 February 1960 and lasted till 26 September 1962.

Background

After E M S Namboothiripad Government was dismissed, Kerala was under President rule. Elections were held to the legislative assembly on 1 February 1960.[1]

Indian National Congress became the largest party with 63 seats in the assembly after the elections. Communists became the second largest party 26 seats and Praja Socialist Party (PSP) got 20 seats. Congress and PSP formed a coalition government, with Pattom A Thanu Pillai of PSP as the Chief Minister, and R Sankar from Congress as the Deputy Chief Minister. Even though PSP was a junior partner in the coalition, Pattam was chosen as the Chief Minister because the congress leader R Sankar was from Ezhava caste which the Nair Service Society, the main supporters of Congress, disapproved of. Pattam previously held the posts of Prime Minister in the erstwhile Travancore state, and later the Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin state. He is the only Chief Minister of Kerala born in 19th century.

V. K. Velappan, the Health Minister of this cabinet, died on 26 August 1962, and was the first state cabinet minister in Kerala to die in office. Pattam resigned on 26 September 1962 when he was posted as the Governor of Punjab. This paved the way for the first Congress chief minister in Kerala under R. Sankar.

Council of Ministers

MinisterMinistry/PortfolioParty
1Pattam A. Thanu PillaiChief Minister
2R. SankarDeputy Chief MinisterMinister for FinanceIndian National Congress
3P. T. ChackoMinister for Home Affairs
4K. A. Damodara MenonMinister for Industries
5P. P. Ummer KoyaDepartment of Education
6K. T. AchuthanMinister for Transport & Labour
7E. P. PouloseMinister for Food & Agriculture
8V. K. VelappanMinister for Public Health & Electricity (expired on 26 August 1962)
9K. KunhambuMinister for Harijan Uplift & Registration
10D. Damodaran PottiMinister for Public Works
11K. ChandrasekharanMinister for Law & Revenue

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: History of Kerala Legislature . Kerala Government . 30 July 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101549/http://kerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3776%3Ahistory-of-kerala-legislature . 6 October 2014.