Marpadi Veerappa Moily (born 12 January 1940) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress from the state of Karnataka. Moily was the former Chief Minister (and the first ethnic Tuluva CM) of the Indian state of Karnataka (19 November 1992 – 11 December 1994). He was elected to Karnataka state legislative assembly from Karkala constituency of Udupi district. From 2009 to 2019, he represented the Chikballapur constituency in Lok Sabha. But he lost in 2019 to a BJP candidate when BJP won 25 seats out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. He was the former Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister of Corporate Affairs and Minister of Power in the Indian government. He is also currently serving as the All India Congress Committee General Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh. He is regarded as one of the senior members of the Congress Party, and a close adviser for the Congress Leader Sonia Gandhi. He announced formal retirement from electoral politics in 2024 prior to the 18th Lok Sabha Elections.

Early life and education

Veerappa Moily was born in a Tulu-speaking family in Marpadi Village, Moodbidri erstwhile South Canara. He belongs to Devadiga community. He did his B.A. from Government College (now known as University College) situated at Hampankatta in Mangalore city. He completed his B.L. from University Law College, Bengaluru.

Career

Legal career

Moily who is a lawyer by profession, in 2014, has opened a law firm called Moily Law Associates.

Political career

Summary of achievements

Chairman of Tax Reforms Commission

Chairman of Revenue Reforms Commission

Finance

Irrigation and Power

Rural and Urban Development and Infrastructure

Education

Publications

Moily has written a book The edge of time. It is a Kannada novel Tembare which examines, a complex cultural practice of coastal Karnataka, called bhutaradhane, or the worship of hero-spirits. The Pambada community, a marginalised dalit community, has as its hereditary profession, spirit impersonation during elaborate rituals. Mr. Moily explored two responses to this traditional and exploitative profession through two Pambada brothers: one who rebels and opts for formal education, and the other who tries to revive the true spirit of the ancient practice. (courtesy : Prasanta Varma, Advocate, Supreme Court of India). Mr. Moily is an advocate by profession, he entered politics about four decades ago and he became the chief minister of Karnataka in the year 1992. Moily is a literary figure of some note. He has served as a regular columnist for The Hindu and Deccan Herald (both English newspapers) and for Samyukta Karnataka, a Kannada daily. He has also authored several books, all in Kannada, being: Moily has written four volumes of an English book called Unleashing India, which outlines how India can be a super power after 25 to 30 years by leveraging and properly utilising its demographic dividend. The early three volumes of the book dealt with the following: one on agriculture, second on water and third on power sector. The fourth volume, "Unleashing India: The Fire of Knowledge" – which illustrates a detailed analysis of the deficiencies in the Indian education system, along with innovative strategies and solutions to address the educational needs of the country in the 21st century – was published on 29 March 2012. Moily is also writing another epic poem on Draupadi and the title is Shrimudi Parikranam. In an interview to Bar & Bench he said "This is how I go on writing, it is an unstoppable journey".

Controversies

Awards