He had been following in the footsteps of his father and has taken over the political mantle after the death of the veteran. Now that he is all set to be sworn in as a Minister in the new United Democratic Front Cabinet in the State on Wednesday, he will be seen as a leader continuing the political legacy of his father.
When K.P. Mohanan, 61, Socialist Janata (Democratic) leader and MLA-elect from the Koothuparamba constituency, takes the oath as Minister, the people of Panur, the home turf of the veteran socialist and Janata Dal leader P.R. Kurup, who had become Minister twice, may experience a sense of déjà vu.
Mr. Mohanan, who has been elected by a margin of nearly 3,000 votes in these elections, has grown beyond the political inheritance, winning thrice in a row. He was first elected as a Janata Dal(S) candidate from the Peringalam constituency, the political enclave of his father, to the 11th Kerala Assembly in 2001, the year the veteran died. He was re-elected in 2006 from the constituency, which ceased to exist post-delimitation with much of its areas being merged with Koothuparamba.
After the Janata Dal(S) split, he stood with the faction led by M.P. Veerendrakumar, which evolved into the SJ(D).
P.R. Kurup had been elected from Peringalam in the third, fifth, eighth, and 10th elections to the Assembly. Before that, he was elected from the Koothupramba constituency in 1957, the first Assembly elections in reorganised Kerala, and the elections that followed in 1960. He had served as Minister for Irrigation and Cooperation from 1967 to 1969 in the E.M.S. Namboodiripad Ministry and as Forest and Transport Minister from 1996 to 1999 in the E.K. Nayanar Ministry.
Mr. Mohanan started his political innings as a student in 1967. Inspired by the socialist ideology of his father, he joined the Janata Party. He had served as the secretary of the Yuva Janata Dal district unit and as a member of the national working committee of the Janata Dal. He is the chief editor of Padayani , an evening newspaper published from Thalassery.
