K. P. Unnikrishnan
{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = K. P. Unnikrishnan
| native_name = കെ.പി. ഉണ്ണികൃഷ്ണൻ
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1936|09|20|df=yes}}{{Citation needed|date= April 2018}}
| birth_place = Coimbatore, Madras Presidency, British India
(present day Tamil Nadu, India)
| nationality = Indian
| residence =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = Madras Christian College, Chennai
| office = Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
| constituency = Vatakara
| term_start = {{Start date|1971||}}
| term_end = {{End date|1996||}}
| predecessor = A. Sreedharan
| successor = O. Bharathan
| party = Indian National Congress (I)
| profession = {{hlist|Journalist|Social worker|Writer}}
| spouse = {{Marriage|Amrita Unnikrishnan|1977}}
| children = 2
| website =
| footnotes =
| date = 23 September |
| year = 2006 |
| source = http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/2282.htm
}}
K. P. Unnikrishnan (born 20 September 1936) is an Indian former politician, writer, Union Minister and parliamentarian of Vatakara constituency.{{cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/The-Stalwarts-Who-Faded-Away/2014/03/22/article2123739.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606224155/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/The-Stalwarts-Who-Faded-Away/2014/03/22/article2123739.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 June 2014|title=The Stalwarts Who Faded Away|work=The New Indian Express}}
Life
K. P. Unnikrishnan was born on 20 September 1936 in a family from Malabar Coast. His father's name was E. Kunhikannan Nair. He was educated at the Madras Christian College, Chennai. He completed his law also from Chennai. He was associated with Socialist Party and Praja Socialist Party during this period. In the 1960s, he joined Indian National Congress and became a member of the All India Congress Committee in 1962.
He used to write articles for the Mathrubhumi and other periodicals as special correspondent. He entered into electoral foray when he first represented Vatakara constituency in 1971 as an Indian National Congress candidate. He remained unbeaten in the next five Lok Sabha polls (1977, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991) despite switching over to the Indian National Congress (U) in 1980 and later to Indian Congress (Socialist) in 1984.{{Cite magazine|date=January 29, 2015 |title=Who's who: Divergence in diversity|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19791130-gayatri-devi-charan-singh-lok-dal-morarji-desai-karpoori-thakur-janata-party-rajinder-puri-atal-behari-vajpayee-harijan-indira-gandhi-raj-narain-madhu-limaye-sheikh-abdullah-818032-2015-01-29|access-date=2021-05-05|magazine=India Today|language=en}} In the period 1981–84, he was the leader of Congress (Secular) in the parliament. In the period 1980–82, he was also a member of the Public Accounts Committee. He had served as the Minister for Telecommunications, Shipping, Surface Transport in the Vishwanath Pratap Singh ministry (1989–90).{{Cite web|date=2019-09-15|title=Arif Muhammed Khan visits his old friend KP Unnikrishnan|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/150919/arif-muhammed-khan-visits-his-old-friend-kp-unnikrishnan.html|access-date=2021-05-05|website=Deccan Chronicle|language=en}} During his tenure as minister he oversaw the evacuation of Indians during Gulf War.{{Cite web|author=K. R. Rajeev|date=May 9, 2020|title=Foot the bill and bring NRIs home: Ex-Union minister {{!}} Kozhikode News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/foot-the-bill-bring-nris-home-ex-union-minister/articleshow/75635373.cms|access-date=2021-05-05|website=The Times of India|language=en}}{{Cite magazine|author=Salil Tripathi DILIP BOBB |date=September 30, 1990 |title=For thousands of Indians, Gulf crisis becomes a nightmare without end|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19900930-for-thousands-of-indians-gulf-crisis-becomes-a-nightmare-without-end-813091-1990-09-30|access-date=2021-05-06|magazine=India Today|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Planning Made Kuwait Airlifting a Success: Ex-Minister|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/planning-made-kuwait-airlifting-a-success-ex-minister/713283|access-date=2021-05-06|website=Outlook (India)}}
His only defeat in the constituency came in 1996. Unnikrishnan later quit active politics, shifted his base to New Delhi and then to his ancestral house at Panniyankara in Kozhikode district, and dedicated himself to reading and writing books.
In 1977, he married Amrita Unnikrishnan. They have two daughters.{{cn|date=July 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Ministry of Communications (India)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unnikrishnan, K P}}
Category:People from Kozhikode district
Category:Lok Sabha members from Kerala
Category:People from Coimbatore
Category:Indian Congress (Socialist) politicians
Category:Indian National Congress (U) politicians
Category:Praja Socialist Party politicians
Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala
{{Kerala-INC-politician-stub}}