C. M. Stephen

C. M. Stephen Biography

C. M. Stephen was a prominent political figure from Kerala during the early years of Indian independence. He served as the Union Minister and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Chief. He served as the leader of opposition in the central government led by Morarji Desai during 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979, before Charan Singh came into power in 1979. An unsung politician from Kerala in the 1970s and 1980s, he occupied a prominent position in Indian politics and parliamentary affairs. He remained a trade union leader, journalist, parliamentarian, Union Minister, opposition leader in parliament, A I C C General Secretary etc, holding many senior posts in national level politics.

C. M. Stephen was born on 23 December 1918 in Mavelikkara, Kerala. Cherukole is his native place, and he was born to Eapen Mathai and Esther. Stephen was active in the Balajanasakhyam during school days, a student union, which helped him a lot to develop leadership qualities. After completing his law studies, he started his career as a journalist. He also started 'Pouraprabha' an evening daily. He supported Travancore Congress and attacked the bad rule of Divan C. P. Ramaswamy Iyyer in the princely state of Travancore in the pre-independent era. In the post-independent period, he started practising law and joined active politics in 1951. He was closely associated with many prominent Congress leaders of Kerala during this period.

He was also one of the founding fathers of I N T U C, the trade union wing of the Indian National Congress, and remained a trade union leader too. He joined Kerala state assembly for the first time in 1960, followed by 1965 and 1971. He contested Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 1977, and got elected on Congress seat from Idukki. He remained a close aide of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and also remained a Union minister.

Published: July 23, 2018

Updated: July 23, 2018