People from all walks of life came in large numbers to pay homage to veteran Communist and former Minister M.V. Raghavan who died here on Sunday. The body was consigned to flames with full State honours at Payyambalam on Monday.
Workers of political parties, leaders, and Ministers were among those who their last respects to the departed leader of the Communist Marxist Party (CMP) when the body was brought to the Town Square for public viewing at 10 a.m.
Factions’ rivalryEarlier, the body was kept at the district committee office of the CMP for half an hour. The CMP being a divided house, workers and leaders of rival factions led by C.P. John and K.R. Aravindakshan separately raised slogans hailing the deceased leader at the Town Square as hundreds of queued up to see the body. The venue also witnessed scenes that gave the impression that the two factions were vying with each other to secure control of the funeral scene. Mourners gathered in large numbers at Payyambalam when the hearse reached there around 12 noon. M.V. Girish Kumar, the eldest son of the deceased, lit the funeral pyre. Also present were M.V. Nikesh Kumar, M.V. Rajesh, MVR’s other sons and son-in-law E. Kunhiraman.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Finance Minister K.M. Mani, Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed, Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Rural Development Minister K.C. Joseph, Minister for Panchayats M.K. Muneer, Labour Minister Shibu Baby John, Minister for Co-operation C.N. Balakrishnan, Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau members Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and M.A. Baby, MPs P.K. Sreemathy and K.C. Venugopal, Bharatiya Janata Party leader C.K. Padmanabhan, former MP K. Sudhakaran and Congress (S) leader Ramachandran Kadannappally reached the Town Square to pay homage to MVR. Rival CMP leaders Mr. John and Mr. Aravindakshan, MLAs Sunny Joseph, E.P. Jayarajan and A.P. Abdullakutty, were present.
