Senior congress leader Vakkom Purushothaman passes away

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior congress leader Vakkom Purushothaman (96) passed away Monday afternoon. He had served as former Mizoram and Tripura Governor. The leader was on rest following old age ailments. He died at his residence in Kumarapuram.

He was thrice sworn in as minister, was speaker twice and two-time MP. He joined the congress at the insistence of R Shankar. Before that, he was a leading advocate in the capital city. He has often recalled the great support given by Kerala Kaumudi and its editor K Sukumaran at that time.

He was the eldest of ten children born to Bhanu Panicker and Bhavani. He was born on April 12 in 1928. His wife Dr Lilly Purushothaman was former joint director of the medical directorate. He was staying with his granddaughter Anju, daughter of his eldest son Biju Purushothaman (late). His other two children are Dr Bindu Purushothaman KIMS HEALTH and Binu Purushothaman.

He was one of the speakers who allowed adjournment motion notices in a very strict manner. When he was the speaker in the A K Antony cabinet from 2001 to 2004, adjournment motion notices were allowed only after very strict checking. Speakers should work knowing the wishes of the government. Vakkom had adopted a neutral approach to ensure the rights of the opposition while running the business of the ruling party.

During his tenure as the Speaker, he had taken the stand of scrutinizing every issue on his own, rejecting it if it could be rejected and accepting it if it was good, regardless of the government's wishes. Vakkom intervened in the assembly under the discipline of an often-stern headmaster and including in terms of punctuality. At times, he denied the opposition opportunities to seek permission to present adjournment motion notices, leading to opposition protests.