A pall of gloom descended on Aryanad, as residents of this nondescript village joined rest of the citizens of the capital city, on Sunday to bid a tearful farewell to Speaker G. Karthikeyan.
Crowds line up
In a reflection of the respect Mr Karthikeyan commanded across the board, people cutting across political and religious affiliations descended on the premises of Government Vocational Higher Secondary School at Arayanad, which was almost an adopted home to the departed leader since he contested from the constituency in 1991, to pay respects to the mortal remains when it was brought to the school around noon.
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Crowds lined up en route to the school very early to have a last minute glimpse of their leader.
“It was his adopted home. He was part of our family be it a marriage function or a funeral ceremony,” said Murugan, a resident of Kottakkakam near Aryanad.
Mr Karthikeyan nurtured the constituency by lending an ear to the travails of people and addressing to the infrastructure needs of the locality. “The school where the mortal remains are kept is his contribution.
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He was very passionate to improve the condition of schools and primary health centres,” Ramachandran, a resident of Eravoor, pointed out.
Completing works
“As if he saw death coming, he was in a hurry to complete all the works he started in the constituency,” he added.
People recall his humility and warmth by which he would listen to their grievances.
“Even if he was on a busy schedule he would listen to us and follow it up.
He might fight the election on a political plank but after the elections he treated everyone equally,” said Shankar, a resident of Aruvikkara.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Deputy Speaker N. Sakthan, Health Minister V. S Sivakumar, Minister for Excise and Ports K Babu and senior Congress leaders and functionaries accompanied the mortal remains of Mr. Karthikeyan to Aryanad.