THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malick Mohammed Hassan, 69, has thrived on his friendship with the top Congress leaders, including A.K. Antony, Oommen Chandy, Vayalar Ravi, K. C. Joseph and P. C. Chacko. He entered student politics at the age of 16 during the time of Antony. “I have been a Congress party worker all through my life and everyone knows about my style of functioning. My friendship with Antony, Oommen Chandy and Vayalar Ravi goes a long way since my KSU days,” Hassan told DC.
He has been a legislator five times, twice from Kazhakkoottam (1930-1982 and 1982-1987), twice from Trivandrum west (1987-1991 and 1991-1996) and once from Kayamkulam constituency. Hassan served as the minister for information and parliamentary affairs in the Antony government in 2001 and also held the portfolio of minister for non-Resident Keralite affairs.
He has all along been an ‘A’ camp loyalist and locked horns with former PCC chief V. M. Sudheeran several times. Hassan, a book lover, is currently reading the translated works of M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Dr. V. Rajakrishnan, N. S. Madhvan, Paul Zachariah and M. M. Basheer. Hassan’s wife is A. K. Rahiya, a retired senior manager of Syndicate Bank, and they have a daughter, Nisha Safeer, a management consultant in Bengaluru.
