UpdateBot at 03:32, 12 March 2022

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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Alphons Kannanthanam
|image = Alphons Kannanthanam (2019).jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1953|8|08}}
| birth_place = [[Manimala]], [[Travancore-Cochin]], India
| residence =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[North-Eastern Hill University]], [[Shillong]]
| office = [[Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology|Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology]]
| primeminister = [[Narendra Modi]]
| predecessor = [[P. P. Chaudhary]]
| term_start = 3 September 2017
| term_end = 24 May 2019
| successor =
| office2 = [[Minister of State (Independent Charge)]]<br />[[Ministry of Tourism (India)|Tourism]]
| primeminister2 = [[Narendra Modi]]
| predecessor2 = [[Mahesh Sharma]]
| term_start2 = 3 September 2017
| term_end2 = 24 May 2019
| successor2 = [[Prahlad Singh Patel]]
| office4 = [[Kerala Legislature|Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly]], [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| constituency4 = [[Kanjirappally (State Assembly constituency)|Kanjirappally]]
| term_start4 = 2006
| term_end4 = 2011
| office3 = [[Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha]]
| term_start3 = 9 November 2017
| party = [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
| constituency = [[Rajasthan]]
<ref>{{cite news|title=Kerala B.J.P leader Alphons Kannanthanam could become Chandigarh administrator|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/kerala-bjp-leader-alphons-kannanthanam-appointed-administrator-of-chandigarh/|access-date=25 April 2017|work=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=BJP accords reception to Alphons Kannanthanam|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/BJP-accords-reception-to-Alphons-Kannanthanam/article14963687.ece#!|access-date=25 April 2017|work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref>
| spouse = Sheela<ref>http://www.niyamasabha.org/codes/members/alphonskanamthanam.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>
| children = 2 sons(Akash Alphons & Adarsh Alphons)
| website = {{URL|http://www.alphonskannanthanam.com/}}
}}
'''Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam''' or '''K. J. Alphons''' (born 8 August 1953) is an Indian civil servant, advocate, and politician from Kerala. He is the former [[Union Council of Ministers|Union Minister of State]] for [[Ministry of Culture (India)|Culture]], and [[Ministry of Tourism (India)|Tourism]], in office since 3 September 2017 to May 2019 under the [[Bharatiya Janata Party|B.J.P.]] Government of [[Narendra Modi]]. He is currently serving as a Rajyasabha MP.

He is the second BJP Central Minister from [[Kerala]] after [[O. Rajagopal]]. Alphons Kannanthanam belongs to the 1979 batch of the [[Indian Administrative Service]] (I.A.S.), Kerala cadre. He served as Commissioner of the [[Delhi Development Authority]].

Alphons was born in [[Manimala]], [[Kottayam district]], [[Kerala]], India, and was a [[Left Democratic Front (Kerala)|Left Democratic Front]] supported independent [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]] for [[Kanjirappally (State Assembly constituency)|Kanjirappally]] constituency in [[Kottayam district]], [[Kerala]] from 2006 to 2011.<ref>[http://www.kerala.gov.in/government/mla.htm Kerala Members of Legislative Assembly] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130012529/http://www.kerala.gov.in/government/mla.htm |date=2010-01-30 }}</ref> He joined the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] in 2011. He is also the first ever BJP Central Minister from [[Pathanamthitta (Lok Sabha constituency)]].

== Early life and education==
Alphons was born in [[Manimala]], [[Kottayam District]], to K. V Joseph & Brijith Joseph. His father was a World War II [[veteran]] who became a school teacher after the war. His parents had nine children; they adopted two more from the orphanage.

Alphons received his early education in [[Malayalam]] medium village schools near his place of birth. He passed SSLC with 42% marks. After the below average performance in the tenth class exam he decided to change himself and vowed to change the world. He completed his [[Master of Arts|Master]]'s in [[Economics]] and was one of the toppers of the [[Civil Services Examination]] in the year 1979. He also completed his LLB while he was the Commissioner for Delhi Development Authority [[Delhi Development Authority|DDA]].

== Career ==
Alphons was recruited to the [[Indian Administrative Service]] in 1979 and served for 27 years. He resigned from the service in 2006 to join politics. He was later elected a [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]], from [[Kanjirappally (State Assembly constituency)|Kanjirappally]] in [[Kottayam District]], [[Kerala]] with the support of [[Left Democratic Front (Kerala)|Left Democratic Front]]. He is also a practicing advocate in the [[Kerala High Court|High Court of Kerała]] at [[Kochi]] and the [[Supreme Court of India]].

His national profile rose as the Commissioner of the [[Delhi Development Authority]], he commissioned demolition of 14,310 [[illegal housing in India|illegal buildings]] and reclaimed land worth more than Rs. 10,000 crores. These actions earned him the title, ''The Demolition Man''.<ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/full_story.php?content_id=89394 Demolition Man]</ref>

In 2006, he resigned from the [[Indian Administrative Service|IAS]] to pursue a career in politics. He became a [[Left Democratic Front (Kerala)|Left Democratic Front]] supported independent [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]] from [[Kanjirappally (State Assembly constituency)|Kanjirappally]].<ref>[http://keralaassembly.org/winner06.html Kerala Assembly Election Results, 2006]</ref>

On 24 March 2011, Alphons joined the [[BJP]] in the presence of erstwhile party president [[Nitin Gadkari]], after having resigned from his assembly seat a couple of hours prior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/former-ias-officer-kj-alphons-joins-bjp/20110324.htm|title = Former IAS officer K J Alphons joins BJP}}</ref>

He has been appointed as a Member of Committee constituted by [[Government of India]] on 26 June 2017 to prepare the final draft of National Education Policy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=166900|title=Government constitutes a committee to prepare the final draft of National Education Policy|website=pib.nic.in|access-date=2017-06-27}}</ref>

In a cabinet reshuffle on 3 September 2017, he was appointed as minister of state in the [[Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology]] and minister of State (independent charge) of the [[Ministry of Tourism (India)|Ministry of Tourism]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/cabinet-reshuffle-alphons-kannanthanam-appointed-a-mos-in-ministry-of-it/articleshow/60348637.cms |title=Cabinet reshuffle: Alphons Kannanthanam appointed a MoS in ministry of IT |publisher= The Economic Times |date= 3 September 2017|access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref> On 9 November 2017, Alphons was elected unopposed as Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/latest/857272/union-minister-kj-alphons-elected-unopposed-as-rajya-sabha-member-from-rajasthan|title = Union minister KJ Alphons elected unopposed as Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan}}</ref>

==2019 Indian general election==
{{Main|2019 Indian general election}}
Alphons Kannanthanam contested as [[National Democratic Alliance (India)|NDA]] candidate from [[Ernakulam (Lok Sabha constituency)|Ernakulam constituency]] for [[2019 Indian general election]] and came third.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/bjp-list-kerala-out-kannanthanam-contest-ekm-pattanamthitta-remains-unalloted-98735 |title=Kerala NDA Seats Lok Sabha Election 2019 |date=21 March 2019 |publisher=The News Minute |access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Official website|http://www.alphonskannanthanam.com/}}

{{Cabinet of Narendra Modi}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kannanthanam, Alphons}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian Christians]]
[[Category:North-Eastern Hill University alumni]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:Malayali politicians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kottayam]]
[[Category:Independent politicians in India]]
[[Category:Kerala MLAs 2006–2011]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Kerala]]
[[Category:Narendra Modi ministry]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Indian Administrative Service officers]]
[[Category:District magistrate]]

Alphons Kannanthanam - Revision history

UpdateBot at 03:32, 12 March 2022