Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who resigned as CPI(M) State Secretary on August last due to ill health, died at Apollo Hospital in Chennai on Saturday night
He was 69. He is survived by his wife SR Vinodini and two sons, Binoy and Bineesh.
The body of the CPI(M) politbureau member, who was undergoing treatment for cancer at Apollo Hospital will be brought to Kerala for cremation.
In March 2022, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was re-elected as party's State Secretary for the third time. He was a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1982, 1987, 2001, 2006 and 2011 from Thalassery Assembly seat. He was also the Home Minister in the V S Achudanandan Ministry in the State.
Kodiyeri became the party's state secretary first time in 2015. He was re-elected for the second time in 2018. However, he stepped down in November 2020 for medical treatment.
He entered politics through the students wing of CPI(M) in 1970. He was Secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and its All India Joint Secretary between 1973 and 1979.
During the time of the emergency, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was imprisoned under MISA for 16 months. From 1980 to 1982, he was the Kannur District President of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).
He also served as the Chief Editor of the party's mouthpiece 'Deshabhimani.' He was born to Kunjunni Kurup and Narayani Amma on November 16, 1953, in Kannur.
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