A. K. Balan

A. K. Balan Biography

A. K. Balan is a noted politician and minister from Kerala. A state minister twice, he is associated with Communist Party of India (Marxist). He served as the Minister for Electricity and SC/ST Development under V. S. Achuthanandan from 2006-2011. During his tenure as minister, he electrified Palakkad district completely in 2010, and thus owns the credit of first Indian electricity minister of any state to reach this feat. Currently he serves as an MLA representing Tarur constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, and Minister for SC/ST, Law, Cultural Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs.

A. K. Balan was born on 3 August 1951 in Kozhikode district. Kelappan and Kunhi are his parents. Chalappuram near Nadapuram is his hometown. He completed his graduation from Thalassery and later also did LLB from Government Law College, Kozhikode. Balan entered politics as a student and was a member of SFI during his college days. Since then he is fully active in political career, and moved on to many higher positions including cabinet minister in the government formed by V. S. Achuthanandan in 2006.

As a student activist he is known for participating in 'Land Agitation' for which he was jailed for 1 month. He became fully active in politics in the late 1970s and got elected to Lok Sabha for the first time in 1980. He joined as an MLA of state assembly for the first time in 2001, when he contested from Kuzhalmannam constituency. He became state minister for the first time in 2006, and served a term of 5 years. He gave some significant contributions as an electricity minister during this term. Currently he serves as Minister for SC/ST, Law,Cultural Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, and also the Central Committee member of CPI (M).

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Updated: June 13, 2018