Delhi pays tribute to K.P. Unnikrishnan

Friends and family bid a fond farewell to former Union Minister and senior Congress leader K.P. Unnikrishnan at a memorial meeting held in Delhi on Thursday (April 2, 2026) evening.

Speakers remembered his multifaceted personality, which seamlessly straddled the worlds of literature and politics. His elder daughter, Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, described her father as a “socialist by conviction and a Congressman by association”, adding that he nevertheless disliked political labels.

Unnikrishnan had the rare distinction of representing a Lok Sabha constituency for the longest period in Kerala’s political history. He was the Member of Parliament from Vadakara in Kozhikode from 1971 to 1996, elected under the banner of three different political parties.

His younger daughter, Niranjana Unnikrishnan, said her father was the “Google before Google came”, recalling a “delightfully funny man” whose full-throated laughter could fill a room.

Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who had been Unnikrishnan’s colleague in V.P. Singh’s Cabinet, described him as the “voice of the voiceless”. Even while on the Opposition benches, Mr. Khan said, Unnikrishnan served as a critical check on the government of the day. Until the very end, he remained accessible to everyone and was admired across party lines for his unwavering integrity.

Writer and Jaipur Literature Festival director Namita Gokhale spoke of Unnikrishnan’s deep love for books. “He lived in a bookshelf,” she said, describing his study lined wall to wall with books. She said that he was not to display the “bombast of an intellectual” but showed “humility of a lifelong scholar”. 

Friends recalled his love for food, his generosity, and his skills as a storyteller who could regale audiences of all ages. Many spoke of the thoughtful debates they shared with Unnikrishnan, who could hold forth with ease on almost any subject.

The evening concluded with a montage celebrating his life. The opening images of his infancy drew gentle laughter from the audience, sparked by the sight of his familiar smile. As the montage progressed, showing an older Unnikrishnan, his expanding girth mirroring the growing stature of the company he kept, from Prime Ministers to international leaders, the mood turned reflective. By the evening’s close, there was scarcely a dry eye in the hall as his young granddaughters offered a tearful vote of thanks to those gathered.