Kerala Governor and veteran Puducherry politician M.O.H. Farook, 74, passed away at a hospital here on Thursday night after ailing for some time, family and hospital sources said.
Admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on December 4, Mr. Farook was treated for multiple myeloma. He was on medical leave in his last days, with Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj holding the additional charge of Kerala.
He is survived by his son M.O.H.F. Shahjahan and daughters F. Malika and F. Yasmin.
Mr. Farook, who hailed from Karaikal, held several important posts in his long career, the first notable one being Speaker of the Puducherry Assembly at the age of 27. He was thrice Chief Minister of Puducherry (1967-68, 1969-74 and 1985-90). He headed the governments of both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress.
Elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996 and 1999, he served as Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism in 1991-92 in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government.
In September 2004, he was appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and in 2010 Jharkhand Governor. He was appointed Kerala Governor and assumed office on September 8, 2011.
