Prahladan Gopalan

Puthiyapurayil Gopalan popularly known as Prahladan Gopalan was an Indian National Congress politician from Kerala, India. He represented Madayi Assembly constituency in the second Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Biography Puthiyapurayil Gopalan was born on 1922, as one of the five children of R. Kunhiraman Master and P. Madhavi Amma, a Malabar District School Teacher.

He died on May 20, 1969, at the age of 47 in a road accident in Malappuram.

Career and activism Gopalan was evicted from his home for protesting against his father and later moved to Bombay. While in Bombay he was attracted to Indian National Congress. He was appointed General Secretary of the Bombay Youth Congress and returned home in 1940 to form Youth Congress in his native place. He later took part in several freedom struggles, including the Quit India movement, and was imprisoned. He also fasted inside the jail in protest of being given unhygienic food in jail.

In the 1960 elections to the Second Kerala Legislative Assembly, Prahladan defeated K. P. R. Gopalan by 261 votes. In 1965, he again contested for the Third Kerala Legislative Assembly, but lost to K. P. R. Gopalan. He also served as the president of Kannur District Congress Committee.

Controversies On September 25, 1962, on his way to Peachy, P. T. Chacko MLA's official car was involved in an accident. The controversy was sparked when locals saw a woman in the car. Prahladan Gopalan went on a hunger strike in front of the Assembly on January 30, 1964, demanding the resignation of Chacko from his own party. Chacko was forced to resign on February 16, 1964.