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Prakash Karat

movie Politician cake 7 February 1948 (Saturday) (Letpandan, Burma (Now Myanmar))
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Height

5' 10" (178 cm)

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Age

77

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Nation

Indian

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Basic Information

Date of Birth: 7 February 1948 (Saturday)
Birthplace: Letpandan, Burma (Now Myanmar)
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
Nationality: Indian
Hometown: Palakkad, Kerala

Family & Relationships

Marital Status: Married
Spouse: Brinda Karat

Education

Schools: Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School, Chennai
Colleges: Madras Christian College, Chennai The University of Edinburgh, UK Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
Education: B.A. in Economics from Madras Christian College M.A. in Political Science from University of Edinburgh MSc from University of Edinburgh PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University

person_book Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Prakash Karat

  • Prakash Karat belongs to a Maliyali Nair family in Kerala.
  • He lived in Palakkad, Kerala, till age five and later moved with his family to Burma.
  • After completing his schooling, he secured the first prize in an all-India essay competition on the topic of the Tokyo Olympics as a result in 1964, he was sent on a ten-day tour to the Tokyo Olympics.
  • On the graduation day, he won the best all-around student prize at Madras Christian College in Chennai.
  • He was encouraged by one of his professors Duncan B. Forrester and got a scholarship to study master’s in politics at the University of Edinburgh in the UK.
  • Thereafter, he became an active member of student politics while studying at the University of Edinburgh.
  • In 1970, he completed his thesis on Language and Politics in Modern India.
  • After joining student politics at the University of Edinburgh, he was rusticated from the university for anti-apartheid protests. The rustication later was suspended due to his good behaviour.
  • In 1971, he joined the CPI(M) Leader A.K. Gopalan as an aide and worked with him until 1973.
  •  In 1973, he became one of the founders and President of the Student Federation of India (SFI) at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
  • After that, he was elected as the third president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union.
  • Some of the books that he has written are Language, Nationality and Politics in India (1973), A World to Win-Essays on the Communist Manifesto (1999), and Across Time and Continents: A Tribute to Victor Kieran (2003).
  • He served as the Second president of the Student Federation of India from 1974 to 1979.
  •  He worked underground during the Emergency of India from 1975 to 1977.
  • Some of the associates who worked with him while he became the president of the Student Federation of India were N. Ram, Mythili Sivaraman, and P. Chidambaram.
  • During the 1975-1977 Emergency of India, he was arrested twice and spent eight days in prison.
  • In July 2008, he announced that CPI(M) would withdraw support from the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) over the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal.
  • As of 2024, he is an active senior member of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India, which focuses on internal party affairs, strategy, and debates.
  • In 2024,  he was appointed as the interim leader of the CPI(M) after the death of Sitaram Yechury.

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