Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Central Committee member and former chairperson of the Kerala Women’s Commission M.C. Josephine died of cardiac arrest at AKG hospital in Kannur around 10.30 a.m. on Sunday. She was 74.
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Ms. Josephine, who arrived in Kannur to attend the party congress, suffered a heart attack at the conference venue. She was immediately shifted to the hospital. Hospital sources said she was put on ventilator. As her condition was critical, angioplasty could not be performed on her. She was responding to treatment till Sunday morning. However, by 10 a.m. she suffered another heart attack. She had post-COVID problems too. CPI(M) district secretary M.V. Jayarajan said the body would be taken to her home at Angamaly.
One of the early women leaders of the party Ernakulam, Josephine had held the posts of State president and the national vice president of the All India Democratic Women's Association. She had also served as the chairperson of the Greater Cochin Development Authority and the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation.
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Ms. Josephine rose from the ranks of the CPI(M) in which she became a member in 1978. Six years later, she was elected to the Ernakulam district committee of the party. Three years later, she was elected to the State committee of the organisation. In 2002, she became the Central Committee member of the party.
Though she had successfully moved up the organisational echelons, the veteran leader could not script success in parliamentary politics. She had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls from the Angamaly and Mattancherry constituencies and also the Idukki parliamentary seat.
CM condoles death
In his condolences message, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said her demise was a great loss to the progressive movement and women’s movement in Kerala. “She left her mark on all areas she was involved in and took an uncompromising stand for the rights of women and workers,” he said.
Ms. Josephine, a postgraduate in Malayalam Language and Literature, is survived by her son Manu P. Mathai