The Assembly on Tuesday paid tributes to Kongad MLA K.V. Vijayadas who passed away in Thrissur due to post-COVID-19 complications.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who led the House in paying homage to the two-time legislator, said Vijayadas regarded himself as a member, and not the leader, of the farming community, even while spearheading their issues for decades.
His experience as a farmer who toiled on the fields instilled in him the strength to highlight the issues plaguing the farm sector in the Assembly and on public forums with resolve. He had played instrumental roles in resolving various issues, including those pertaining to farmers’ loan schemes, paddy procurement and irrigation. He had also pioneered model initiatives as a cooperative movement member and an administrator during his tenures at the Elappully Service Cooperative Bank and Thenari dairy cooperative society and as the director board member of the State Cooperative Bank, Mr. Vijayan said.
Public acceptance
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Vijayadas received public acceptance cutting across political affiliations. While he had been elected to the Kongad Assembly constituency twice since its formation in 2011, his increased margin of victory during the 2016 elections reflected upon his immense support base.
Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan recalled the efforts of Vijayadas in realising the Meenvallam hydel power project, the first-of-its-kind to be implemented by a district panchayat in Asia, when he was the first president of the Palakkad district panchayat in 1996.
Cremated
The mortal remains of Vijayadas were cremated with full State honours in Palakkad. His body was brought to his residence at Elappully in the morning. The body was kept at a nearby school for the public to pay homage. Later, the body was taken to the CPI(M) district committee office. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan paid homage to Vijayadas at the party office.
