Kerala’s former CPI-M secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan passed away on Saturday night. He was 69.
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who was diagnosed with cancer breathed his last while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Chennai. He was shifted to the hospital in a special air ambulance on August 29, as his health condition turned critical.
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Born on 16 November 1953 at Kodiyeri in Thalassery, Balakrishnan stepped into politics through the students’ wing of CPI-M, Kerala Students Federation (KSF), and then the Students’ Federation of India (SFI)
He represented Thalassery Constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 1991 and again from 2001 to 2016. Kodiyeri served as the Home Affairs and Tourism Minister for the state from 2006 to 2011 in the VS Achuthanandan government.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was scheduled to fly over to Europe on Saturday night, had postponed his tour as the health condition of Kodiyeri deteriorated. The CM had decided to fly to Chennai to meet Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at the hospital on Sunday. But Kodiyeri breathed his last on Saturday night.
