Purushottam Kesava Kakodkar (18 May 1913 Curchorem – 2 May 1998, Delhi) was a prominent politician and social worker from Goa. He served as a Member of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Freedom fighter He took part in the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned for it. He also took part in the Goa Liberation Movement and the Civil Disobedience Movement launched by Ram Manohar Lohia in Goa in 1946. The Portuguese colonial administration deported him and kept him in detention. After being released from detention in Portugal in 1956 , Kakodkar came back to India. After spending some time with his family in Mumbai, he came to Goa and set up an ashram in Margao. The ashram was used to disguise the freedom movement and many freedom fighters took refuge in the ashram. The police soon discovered the true purpose of the ashram and closed it. He was among the vocal critics of the Salazar administration in Goa. In 1961, he pursued autonomy for Portuguese India but without success. After Goa's liberation Kakodkar was the head of the Goa unit of the Congress, which was set up in Panjim from the residence of his close confidant and advisor Advocate Rui Gomes Pereira. Gomes Pereira was considered to be Goa's foremost legal counsel and an astute politician. (Information By N.Pattihal) Contribution to the Goa Opinion Poll When the issue of Goa's merger with Maharashtra came up, Kakodkar was the chairperson of the Goa Pradesh Congress committee. He used his personal equations with the Nehru family to lobby hard for a referendum with the central leadership. According to one source, he reportedly "almost lost his sanity" trying to do so against the mighty Maharastra. Political career He served as Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (lower house), representing Panaji constituency in the former union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu from 1971 to 1977. He was a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 1985 to 1991. During this term he was also a member of Committee on Petitions, Rajya Sabha during 1986-87. Criticism In his book Panthast, Goan writer Ravindra Kelekar blamed the failure of the non-violent Goa Freedom Movement, spearheaded by Lohia on the squabbles and ego-clashes between Kakodkar and Ram Hegde. Kelekar also stated that Kakodkar was once responsible for Mahatma Gandhi having to apologise to the Portuguese. While he was logged in