CPI Kerala secretary Kanam Rajendran passed away on Friday following a sudden cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Kochi where he was undergoing treatment for some time. He was 73.
Kanam Rajendran was admitted to the hospital on October 25 with multiple ailments, including an unhealed wound on his leg. Since then his left foot had to be amputated owing to infection after the wound remained unhealed due to diabetes.
He was on a recovery path when he suffered the cardiac arrest on Friday evening following which he was rushed into the critical care unit. He was declared dead at 5.30 pm.
Kanam Rajendran has been serving as the CPI secretary since 2015 following the demise of CK Chandrappan. He was on a three-month leave from the party on health grounds and was missing from the political scene of late. A recent state executive meeting of the party had decided to allow him to continue as state secretary and his responsibilities be given to the two assistant secretaries for the time being.
Born in 1950 at Koottickal in Kottayam, he began his political career at a young age and became the state secretary of All India Youth Front (AIYF), the youth wing of the CPI, at the young age of 23.
In 1982 and 1987, Kanam was elected to the Kerala Assembly from Vazhoor constituency. Later he unsuccessfully contested in 1991, 1996 and 2006 elections. He always remained as the corrective force on the Left front, especially during the first Pinarayi Vijayan government.