Muraleedharan was born to Vannathanveetil Gopalan and Nampally Vellamvelly Devaki Amma on 12 December 1958 at Eranholi, Thalassery in Kannur District. Muraleedharan got his family name, Vellamvelly, through matrilineal succession.
Muraleedharan began his political activities during the days of National Emergency that gripped India from June 1975 to March 1977. In 1978 as the Taluk President, he led ABVP in Thalassery. He became the Kannur District Secretary in 1979 and the State Joint Secretary of ABVP in 1980.[6]
Muraleedharan shifted his activities to the RSS at Kozhikode and became a full-time worker of ABVP. He quit his job later and was elected as the State Organizing Secretary of ABVP in 1983 at the age of 25. From 1987 to 1990, he also held the additional responsibility as All India Secretary of ABVP.[7] During his 11 years tenure (1983–1994) as the State Organising Secretary,[8] he worked closely with K.N. Govindacharya and Dattatraya Hosabale, who were then the successive South Zone Organising Secretaries of the ABVP. The ABVP team during 1983–1994 at the state and national level had leaders including Ananth Kumar (Karnataka), Sushil Modi (Bihar), Jagat Prakash Nadda, (Himachal Pradesh), Muraleedhara Rao (Rajasthan), Harendra Kumar (Former All India General Secretary), Om Prakash Kohli (All India President), Professor Late Bal Apte, (All India President), Vinod Tawde and Chandrakant Patil (All India General Secretaries).[9]
Muraleedharan left for Mumbai when he was appointed All India General Secretary of ABVP for the term 1994–1996.[10]
Muraleedharan returned to Kerala in 1997 on a research project of Khadi and Village Industries Commission at Trivandrum.[11]
In 2004, Muraleedharan was appointed the National convener of NGO cell of BJP. Thereafter in 2005, he was made the All India convener of BJP training cell.[15]
During his tenure as the BJP Kerala Vice president (2006–2010), his major assignments were to provide ideological orientation to the party workers in Kerala as part of training cell activities and impart and oversee training to the local body members of the BJP. He contested Loksabha election from Kozhikode Parliamentary Constituency in 2009.[16]
In January 2010 he was elected as the State President of the Kerala BJP.[17] He was elected for his second term in the office in January 2013.[18]
The Kerala BJP had a vote share of 10.8 percent in the 2014 Lok Sabha Election whereas it recorded 6.4 percent in 2009. The total votes BJP got in the local body elections was nearly 28 Lakhs.[19] The 2014–2015 membership drive has expanded the party membership base from 5.75 lakhs to 20 lakhs.[20]
In April 2018, he was elected to Rajya Sabha the upper house of Parliament. He is the 5th ever BJP MP from Kerala. Currently, he is the state in-charge of Andhra Pradesh BJP.[21]
