active in Trade union activities of Cashew industry in Kollam. In 1984 CAPEX the only cooperative in cashew sector was started in his leadership. Soon he got elected into Lok Sabha from Kollam (Lok Sabha constituency) in the 8th, 9th and 10th Lok Sabha. He was a Union Minister handling Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Textiles, Information and Broadcasting from 1984 to 1989 in Rajiv Gandhi ministry and Ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Defence, Non Conventional Energy and Agriculture in Rao ministry from 1991 to 1996. He worked for universalisation of Television in India and established microwave link across Kerala in record time. In 1990's there were a series of allegations were raised against Krishna Kumar, including amassing of wealth disproportionate to the known sources of income and benami real estate deals. His wife Usha Krishnakumar was arrested for violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and was sent to Tihar Jail. In elections to the 11th Lok Sabha of 1996, Krishna Kumar lost to N. K. Premachandran. Nina Pillai, wife of biscuit tycoon Rajan Pillai also contested this elections as a BJP-supported candidate against Krishna Kumar. Following this he distanced himself from electoral politics and took on the role of an education and industrial consultant. There are many analysts who believe that, machinations against K. Karunakaran within Indian National Congress both at national level and state level due to differences he had with Rao and Antony along with the downfall of Karunakaran's clout both at Kerala and Delhi following the ISRO espionage case have seriously impacted the political career of Karunakaran loyalists like Krishnakumar. In 2003, he left Indian National Congress due to differences with K. Karunakaran and joined Bharatiya Janata Party. He contested in BJP ticket from Mavelikara (Lok Sabha constituency) for the 2004 Indian general election. However, in 2006 he joined back in the Indian National Congress. He was active in poll campaigns of 2014 elections for Indian National Congress. In 2014, he did a doctorate in Public policy from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. In 2019 at his age of 80, he again left Congress and joined Bharatiya Janata Party. References India MPs 1991–1996 People from Thiruvananthapuram district 1939 births Living people India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1984–1989 Lok Sabha members from Kerala People from Kollam district Indian Administrative Service officers