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Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam is an Indian civil servant, advocate, and politician. He is the former Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second BJP Central Minister from Kerala and has also served as Commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority.
Wiki/Biography
Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam was born on Saturday, 8 August 1953 (age 70 years; as of 2023) in Manimala, Kottayam District, Kerala. His zodiac sign is Leo. Alphons pursued his early education in Malayalam medium village schools near Manimala. In 1977, he did his Master’s in Economics at North Eastern Hill University, Shillong. During his time as the Commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority, he did his LLB in 1996 at Delhi University.
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father, K.V. Joseph was a World War 2 veteran who became a school teacher after the war and his mother’s name was Brijith Joseph, Brijith was active in humanitarian activities. She sponsored the education of many children and constructed houses for poor people. Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam has five sisters Jolly, Mercy, Cissy, Sophy, and Preetha and four brothers Alphons, Raju, Roy and Fr George. His parents adopted two more children Paul and Mini
Alphons Kannanthanam (on right) with his brother
Wife & Children
Alphons Kannanthanam got married to Sheela Alphons on 26 October 1981. Sheela is a homemaker. The couple has 2 sons, Adarsh Alphons, who is an entrepreneur, artist and philanthropist and Akash Alphons.
Alphons Kannanthanam (in the centre) with his wife and son Akash during a vacation
Religion
Alphons Kannanthanam follows Christianity.
Address
H.N. 1/485A New 428, Kannanthanam House,
P.O. – Manimala, Dist. – Kottayam, (Kerala)
Signature
Career
Indian Administrative Service
Alphons Kannanthanam joined Indian Administrative Service in 1979 and served for 27 years. He has been in many different positions during his reign as a civil servant but he became a popular name when he was given the title of “Demolition Man”.He is known as the Demolition man because, during his stint with the DDA, he recovered over 1,100 acres of DDA land that had been valued well over Rs 10,000 crore. According to an estimate, he demolished more than 14,000 illegal buildings.
Politics
Alphons Kannanthanam begin his political journey in 2006, by becoming an independent MLA backed by the CPI(M) in Kerala. On 24 March 2011, he joined BJP. In 2017, he was appointed minister of state in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Minister of State (independent charge) of the Ministry of Tourism. On 9 November 2017, Alphons was elected unopposed as a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan. Alphons Kannanthanam contested as a National Democratic Alliance candidate from the Ernakulam constituency for the 2019 Indian general election and came third.
Alphons Kannanthanam during a speech
Assets & Properties
Movable Assets
- Bank Deposits: Rs. 76,94,781
- Motor Vehicles: Rs. 8,00,000
- Bonds, Debentures and Shares in Companies: Rs. 3,26,11,566
- Other Assets (such as values of claims/interests): Rs. 10,00,000
Immovable Assets
- Agricultural Land: Rs 4,12,48,980
Note: The given estimates of movable and immovable assets are according to the year 2018. It excludes the assets owned by his wife.
Net Worth
Alphons Kannanthanam’s net worth for the financial year 2017-18 was estimated to be Rs. 8 Crores. It excludes the net worth of his wife.
Controversies
BJP uses the death of Jawans for its own publicity
At the time of the Pulwama attack, Alphons Kannanthanam uploaded a selfie with the coffin of a soldier, which outraged the people of India and led to Publick backlash and a lot of tweets were uploaded stating, BJP uses the death of Jawans for its own publicity.
Union Minister & Senior BJP leader Alphons Kannanthanam takes a selfie with the coffin of a soldier killed in Pulwama.
Another example of BJP using the death of Jawans for its own publicity. pic.twitter.com/SykXIV6zZr
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) February 17, 2019
In response to the controversy, he said,
I don’t take selfies and haven’t taken one so far. Some media had aired live the last rites of the jawan. Things are clear in that, am a person who has held various posts in the last 40 years of my life. I had served people in slum areas in Delhi without holding any posts. My father was also a soldier. So, i am able to understand the sacrifice of the Indian soldiers instead of creating unnecessary controversies, the younger generations should work for the development of the country”
Kerala Bar Council suspends Alphons Kannanthanam
In November 2010, Alphons Kannanthanam was suspended by The Bar Council of Kerala (BCK), after they found him guilty of professional misconduct. He was suspended for 6 months. The committee said,
He had converted his proprietorship business to a private limited company and became the chairman of the company, from which he was receiving Rs 25,000 a month as well as 15 per cent of the company’s revenues. He should be debarred but should also be given an opportunity to stop his business within six months and continue practising as a lawyer if he desired to do so”
Car Collection
Facts/Trivia
- He was one of the toppers of the Civil Services Examination in the year 1979.
- He inaugurated of country’s first tribal tourism circuit in Gangrel, Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.
Alphons Kannanthanam (extreme right) at the inaugration
- He is the first BJP leader from Kerala to get a ministerial berth.
- In 1994, he was featured in Time magazine’s list of 100 Young Global Leaders.
- The headmaster at the Malayalam medium school warned Alphons Kannanthanam’s parents that he would not pass his Class 10 Board examinations. Talking about this incident in an interview he said,
I was a dumb child in school: I was the dumbest. I never won a prize in school. I scored a brilliant 42% for my matriculation. Everybody said I was good for nothing.”
- Alphonso has written 3 books.
Alphons Kannanthanam presenting his book to Amit Shah
- In 2018, when Kerala was hit by a massive flood, he accidentally started a Twitter meme thread known as #KannanthanamSleepChallenge, when he posted his picture sleeping in a relief camp
When your mom enters the room unannounced while you’re texting at 2 am#KannanthanamSleepChallenge#Trending @alphonstourism pic.twitter.com/ZJ7spvwnGb
— aмal ĸrιѕнnan (@marchformass) August 21, 2018
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn