Sobhana George
Member of Legislative Assembly
In office
1991–2005
Preceded byMammen Iype
Succeeded byP. C. Vishnunath
ConstituencyChengannur
Personal details
Born (1962-04-04) 4 April 1962
Chengannur
Political partyCommunist Party of India (Marxist)
Residence(s)Chengannur, Thiruvananthapuram Kerala
Alma materKerala University, University of Mysore
As of 2 Aug, 2013
Source:

Sobhana George is a politician and three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly of the state of Kerala, who, as an Indian National Congress candidate, represented Chengannur in the 9th, 10th and 11th Assemblies. She is the only woman to represent the same constituency consecutively for three years in the Indian National Congress Party.[1]

Sobhana George is now an active supporter of the CPIM. She is currently the first woman to be the Vice Chairperson of Kerala State Khadi and Village Industries Board.

Education

Sobhana completed her SSLC from the Govt. Girls High School, Chengannur. She did her higher studies in Kottayam Basalious College, Rani St. Thomas College, Kozenchery St.Thomas College, Madras University and Mysore University.

Career

She was then the first female president of the All Kerala Balajan Sakhyam. She was also the first female General Secretary of the State Youth Congress Committee and has served as a Joint Secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee. She has also served as a Senate Member of the Kerala University. Following her expulsion from the Indian National Congress, she joined the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) where she served as the General Secretary.[2] She represented the Chengannur constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly in the 9th, 10th and 11th assemblies.

Election Victories
YearClosest rivalVotes polled
1991Mammen Iype[3] (ICS-SCS)36,761
1996Mammen Iype (ICS)[4]37,242
2001Adv. K. K. Ramachandran Nair (CPI-M)[1]41,242

She resigned as MLA on 5 July 2005,[2] after having resigned from the INC, and joining the DIC(K) along with K. Karunakaran.[5] She contested from the Thiruvananthapuram West constituency, but lost.[6] Later, she re-joined the Congress party.[7] In 2011, she staked her claim for the Chengannur constituency, however the Congress fielded its sitting MLA, P. C. Vishnunath, in spite of her claiming that she had the support of the Malankara Orthodox church.[8] She filed her nomination as an independent, but withdrew at the last moment, citing pressure from the party.[9]

In 2016, she resigned from the Congress[10] and in the 2018 Assembly by-polls, she campaigned for the LDF.[11] After her resignation from the Congress Party in 2016, there has never been a Congress Party Member to represent the Chengannur constituency in the Legislative Assembly.

Controversies

In 1997, Sobhana was manhandled, while attending a District Committee meeting by her colleagues. She raised a complaint against them which was largely ignored by the party.[12]

In 2002, a non-bailable arrest warrant[13] was issued for the arrest of Sobhana George,[14] in the case of a forged intelligence report which was faxed to the then Chief Minister A. K. Antony's office, stating that the Tourism and Fisheries Minister in his government, K. V. Thomas, was involved in a 366 crore Hawala transaction which took place in 1999–2000. Also arrested in the case was Surya TV's reporter Anil Nambiar,[15] who flashed the letter on the channel, and Anil Sreerangam,[16] Sobana's private assistant. The arrests were the result of a probe, ordered by the Chief Minister. She was also issued a show cause notice by the KPCC Disciplinary Action Committee.[17]

It was later on proved in court that Sobhana was a victim of groupism among the Congress Party. Sobhana George was framed in a false allegation by the opposition group in the Congress party as she was a strong supporter of the Karunakaran Group of Congress. The court ruled out this case as a purely fabricated case against Sobhana and the sole purpose for this case was revenge.

Performing arts

In 2011, Sobhana introduced a music album called 'Ente Onam' which was released by Chengannur Audios.[18] The music album was about the history of Onam and human values.

She also announced the release of a movie "Pratheekshayode". The movie is about child labor and has prominent actors such as Mukesh, Lakshmi Sharma and others. Sobhana George is the only woman in the Malayalam Film Industry to carry out the Production, Scriptwriting, Dialogue - Writing, Screenplay and acting, all together in a single movie.

In 2015, Sobhana George has her own place in the Guinness World Book of Records as the holder of the World's Largest Human Christmas Tree with Mission Chengennur. There were a total of 4030 people.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kerala Assembly Election 2001 Chengannur". Empowering India. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Sobhana George – Kerala Legislature Members" (PDF). Kerala Legislature. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Kerala Assembly Election 1991 Chengannur". Empowering India. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Kerala Assembly Election 1996 Chengannur". Empowering India. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Muraleedharan elected DIC(K) president". The Hindu. 28 February 2006. Archived from the original on 16 May 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "Only 7 women make it to the Assembly in Kerala". The Times of India. 12 May 2006. Archived from the original on 2 August 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  7. ↑ "Party deserters are opportunists: Karunakaran". One India news. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "Shobana George claims stake to Chengannur seat". The Hindu. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "Shobhana George, MR Murali withdraw nomination". Mathrubhumi. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  10. ↑ "Shobhana George Quits Congress". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Sobhana George jumps on to LDF bandwagon". Deccan Chronicle. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  12. ↑ "Badges of courage". India Today. 14 July 1997. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  13. ↑ "Non-bailable warrant against Shobhana George". The Hindu. 1 October 2002. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  14. ↑ "Cong MLA Sobhana George arrested". The Indian Express. 3 October 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "CB move to arrest Surya TV reporter". The Hindu. 29 June 2002. Archived from the original on 11 September 2004. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "Shobhana George's private secretary held". The Hindu. 29 September 2002. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  17. ↑ "Shobhana gets another show cause". The Hindu. 25 October 2002. Archived from the original on 18 September 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  18. ↑ "Shobana George turns musician" (Video) (in Malayalam). Asianet News. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
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