M.I. Shanavas, one of the three working presidents of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and sitting member of the Lok Sabha representing Wayanad, died at a private hospital in Chennai in the early hours of Wednesday.
He was 67 and is survived by wife and two children. Shanavas had been suffering from pancreas and liver-related ailments for sometime. He was under treatment at a hospital in Chennai following liver transplant on November 2.
His mortal remains were received at the Cochin International Airport by Ernakulam DCC president T.J. Vinod and Anwar Sadath, MLA, around noon on Wednesday. The body was kept at his residence on Ernakulam North railway station road and later at the Ernakulam Town Hall for the public to pay homage. It will be laid to rest at the Thottathumpadi Juma Masjid at Kaloor on Thursday morning.
Student politics
Born in 1951, Mr. Shanavas secured a post-graduation in English from Farook College, Kozhikode, and a degree in law from the Government Law College, Ernakulam. He was active in student politics and had functioned as Calicut University union chairman, Youth Congress vice president and KPCC general secretary and vice president. He was part of the ‘Thiruthalvadi’ (correctionist) faction along with Ramesh Chennithala and G. Karthikeyan that led a rebellion against their mentor and former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran in the 1990s.
But his political fortunes nosedived as he tasted defeat in the next five Lok Sabha elections, setting an unenviable record. A reversal of fortunes came when he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad with a record majority of over 1.5 lakh votes defeating his mentor’s son K. Muraleedharan. He got re-elected from Wayanad in 2014.
Once an active face of the party on news channels, Mr. Shanavas suddenly disappeared from the political scene after he was diagnosed with a pancreas-related ailment in 2010. But he made a return a few years later and was elevated by his party to function as one of its working presidents early this year.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan and Water Resources Minister Mathew T. Thomas paid tribute .
Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, UDF convener Benny Behanan and other Congress leaders paid tributes.
Shanavas was active in the public sphere in the Wayanad Parliament constituency ever since its formation in 2009. He had been elected from there with a record majority in that election.
As a parliamentarian, he could raise major issues of the district, including those related to the farming community. He executed various Centrally-sponsored projects such as the ₹52 crore pepper rejuvenation package, ₹44 crore loan waiver scheme for coffee farmers, and Multi Sectoral Development Programme for minorities.
