Fissures in Kerala Congress helped TS John rise
Former Speaker became compromise candidate from Orthodox church in party of Catholics
KOTTAYAM: T.S. John, an unassuming and mild-mannered person, was one of the youngest speakers of the Kerala Assembly at the age of 36 when C. Achutha Menon was the Chief Minister in 1976. He was not noted for his oratorical skills, organisational ability or political tactics, but was brought into active politics by K.M. George, who formed the Kerala Congress.
He was an active member of the students movements while studying at SB College, Changanassery. He subsequently became a Member of Kaviyoor panchayat. A lawyer by profession, John was elected to the Assembly from Kalooppara constituency four times.
John, who was Speaker of the fourth Kerala Assembly for a short period from February 17, 1976 to March 25, 1977, had also served as the minister for food & civil supplies in the A.K. Antony ministry. In the reconstituted ministry that followed under the leadership of P.K. Vasudevan Nair, he continued to be the minister for food & civil supplies from October 29, 1978 to October 7, 1979.
John benefited from the disagreements in the Kerala Congress over the ministership in the Antony government after the demise of party leader and minister E. John Jacob in the US due to the heart ailments. This rift later got aggravated into a split in which K.M. Mani and P.J. Joseph groups separated in 1979.
While he was minister, John formed the Kerala store which later developed into the Maveli store. John was initiated into the Kerala Congress politics by K.M. George a couple of years after the regional party’s formation in 1964 after the dissident Congress MLAs came together in protest against the way the leadership sidelined P.T. Chacko.
An Orthodox Church member, he was also among the few non-Catholic leaders in the Kerala Congress. Though he continued his loyalty to the P.J. Joseph group, he formed the Kerala Congress Secular in 2003 along with P.C. George. His disagreements with Mr George had surfaced recently and he had conducted discussions with K.M. Mani for merger with the KC(M).