Veteran Congress leader and four-time chief minister of Kerala K Karunakaran died on Thursday after battling a lung disease. He was 93. Popularly called “the leader”, Karunakaran had been ill for a long time and was admitted to a private hospital on December 10 following a lung complication. His condition improved briefly but he was soon back on ventilator support. Doctors said he died at 5.30pm of a brain stroke. Born into a community of percussionists from the Marar caste, Karunakaran was trained to be a painter but found his calling in politics.
K Karunakaran’s tryst with painting came after he had to discontinue studies in Class VIII following a rare health condition — tears welling up whenever he read or wrote. It was the illness which brought Karunakaran to Thrissur — for treatment — from Kannur where he was born. Subsequently, the temple town became his political fiefdom. He entered politics through the Prajamadalam, a regional party formed in then Cochin in 1941. At 26, Karunakaran was elected unopposed to the Thrissur corporation from Chembukavu ward on its ticket. The fiery young man then went on to organise plantation labourers in the district, much to the chagrin of Marxists who claimed proprietary rights over working class issues. They gave him the sobriquet “black leg”. But Karunakaran’s nemesis, his critics said, was the desire to promote his children K Muraleedharan and Padmaja Venugopal in politics. The father-son duo had floated the Democratic Indira Congress (K) in 2005. In 1971, Karunakaran became home minister in the coalition government headed by C Achuta Menon of CPI. The tenure that lasted till 1977 would later continue to haunt him forever, accounting for the alleged custodial death of engineering student Rajan during Emergency. It was due to Karunakaran’s skills that even as Indira Gandhi lost in 1977 after emergency, the Congress combine won 111 of 140 assembly and all 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.
K Karunakaran’s tryst with painting came after he had to discontinue studies in Class VIII following a rare health condition — tears welling up whenever he read or wrote. It was the illness which brought Karunakaran to Thrissur — for treatment — from Kannur where he was born. Subsequently, the temple town became his political fiefdom. He entered politics through the Prajamadalam, a regional party formed in then Cochin in 1941. At 26, Karunakaran was elected unopposed to the Thrissur corporation from Chembukavu ward on its ticket. The fiery young man then went on to organise plantation labourers in the district, much to the chagrin of Marxists who claimed proprietary rights over working class issues. They gave him the sobriquet “black leg”. But Karunakaran’s nemesis, his critics said, was the desire to promote his children K Muraleedharan and Padmaja Venugopal in politics. The father-son duo had floated the Democratic Indira Congress (K) in 2005. In 1971, Karunakaran became home minister in the coalition government headed by C Achuta Menon of CPI. The tenure that lasted till 1977 would later continue to haunt him forever, accounting for the alleged custodial death of engineering student Rajan during Emergency. It was due to Karunakaran’s skills that even as Indira Gandhi lost in 1977 after emergency, the Congress combine won 111 of 140 assembly and all 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.
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