CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran passed away following a sudden cardiac arrest at Amrita hospital near here on Friday at 5.30 p.m. He was 73.
He 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. According to hospital sources, he also had cardiac issues. He was on a recovery path when he suffered a cardiac arrest on Friday evening following which he was rushed into the critical care unit. He was declared dead at 5.30 p.m.
Mr. Rajendran was serving as the CPI secretary since 2015 following the demise of C.K. Chandrappan. His death comes at a time when the entire Cabinet led by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is in the town as part of the ongoing Navakerala Sadas.
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 not to anoint an interim replacement as he was expected to make a comeback soon. Instead, it was decided that assistant secretaries will collectively fill the void till Mr. Rajendran was away.
Mr. Rajendran himself was confident of such a comeback in recent interactions with the media. The hospital authorities are expected to issue a medical bulletin shortly.
Mr. Rajendran was born in Koottickal in Kottayam district on November 10, 1950. He joined politics through All India Youth Federation(AIYF), the youth outfit of the CPI. He became the AIYF secretary in 1969 at the age of 19. Two years later he came a member of CPI.
The body of Mr. Rajendran will be flown to Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday morning where it will be kept at his son’s residence at Edapzhanji and at the CPI State office at P.S. Memorial in Pattom for the public to pay homage. It will then be taken in a funeral procession to the party’s district office in Kottayam. The funeral will be held at his Kanam household at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
