Karnataka-Kerala connection: Reason to cheer for people of Tumari in Sagar as Vishnunadh inducted into V.D. Satheesan cabinet

The oath-taking ceremony of Kerala’s new Congress cabinet, led by V.D. Satheesan, has given the people of Tumari, a small island surrounded by the Sharavathi backwaters in Sagar taluk, a reason to cheer.

P.C. Vishnunadh, inducted into the cabinet, is married to Ha.Ma. Kanaka, a Kannada poet and native of Haalkere village in Tumari Gram Panchayat. The two met at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March in Gujarat in 2005 and married two years later. Kanaka has been known as a poet and a theatre personality. She has been actively involved in organising the PAMPA literary festival in Kerala.

Vishnunadh, a four-time MLA, has represented Chenganur twice and has won from Kundara in Kollam district in the last two elections. He came to politics with no family background in the field, finding his footing during his college days. “Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy spotted his potential and mentored him through his early political career,” said Raghu Haalkere, the minister’s brother-in-law.

P.C. Vishnunadh met Ha.Ma. Kanaka at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March in Gujarat in 2005 and married two years later. The couple with their daughter, Annapoorneshwari.
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Vishnunadh visits Haalkere regularly with his wife and daughter Annapurneshwari. Raghu organises an annual three-day literary event at Tumari in memory of his late father Ha.Ma. Bhat, a socialist and literary figure of the region. The MLA does not miss the programme.

P.C. Vishnunadh, who took oath as minister in the newly formed Kerala cabinet, with his wife Ha.Ma. Kanaka and daughter Annapurna.
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Those close to Vishnunadh speak of his simplicity with admiration. “Despite being a four-time MLA, he does not own a house — his family lives in a rented home. His father was a water meter reader and continued in that job even after his son became a legislator,” said Raghu.