New Delhi: A galaxy of eminent personalities were among the many gathered to honour the memory and legacy of Congress veteran K.P. Unnikrishnan at the India International Centre on April 2, 2026. Former Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, author Namita Gokhale, actor Konkana Sen Sharma and celebrated columnist Dilip Cherian were among those in attendance.
K.P. Unnikrishnan, 89, passed away on 3 March in Kozhikode this year. He is survived by his wife Amritha and his two daughters, Sudakshina and Niranjana.
The evening commenced with a tribute from both his daughters, acknowledging the tributes to their father that have crossed party alliances, with banners going up across all such offices.
Sudakshina, the elder daughter, said, “My father defies restrictive labels; his political life instead was defined by ideological conviction, commitment, independence of thought and readiness to stand apart when principles demand it.”
“For someone in a pragmatic profession that is politics, he stood out as a principled, ideological parliamentarian,” she added.
In his early days, Unnikrishnan forged a love for reading that ranged from Tolstoy to Shakespeare. This love of reading has been passed on to his daughters, and now, granddaughters. “With that love of reading, he didn’t keep to himself; so many of you here will have books gifted by him, for him it was not for gatekeeping, instead it was sharing,“ she recalled.
Author Namita Gokhale quoted a line from Jorge Luise Borges: “I always imagined paradise to be a kind of library.”
“Borges comes to mind when I bid farewell to my friend, I imagine him in paradise surrounded by a sea of read and unread books,” she said.
His family fondly remembered Unnikrishnan as a “cat with nine lives”. His stoic demeanor was reflected even when he was battling with several ailments, never feeling sorry for himself or uttering a word of complaint. Sudakshna told the crowd that even when he was hospitalised after an airplane crash, he jokingly said, “Your dad didn’t kick the bucket, did he?”
In his tribute, Arif Mohammad Khan said: “The passing of Shri K.P. Unnikrishnan is not just a personal loss to his family and friends but an immense loss to this nation and democratic fabric of India.” The former Bihar governor called Unnikrishnan the voice of the voiceless when he was in the Opposition. “He was an individual of unwavering integrity,“ he said.
Unnikrishnan, lovingly referred to as ‘Unni’ by his family and peers, had garnered respect as an intellectual, socialist and statesman. He was a Member of Parliament from the constituency of Vadakara for six consecutive terms spanning 1971-1996. Unnikrishnan served as the minister of telecommunications, shipping and surface transport in the V.P Singh Cabinet.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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