K Karunakaran, erstwhile ‘King’ of Kerala politics passes away

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress stalwart and the 'king' of Kerala politics, also affectionately addressed as 'Leader' by his admirers, Kannoth Karunakaran, today passed away at age 93. Over a span of seven decades he gained a reputation as a master tactician who dominated Kerala politics and also brought his experience as a politician to useful ends at the national level.

Considered a close confidant of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the four-time former Kerala chief minister created the United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition in the 1970s, which continues to this day as a formidable political bloc opposed to the Left-inspired and CPI(M)-led, the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

In his political life he donned a variety of roles - as trade union leader, leader of the Opposition, minister for industries at the Centre and, of course, as four-time chief minister.

Born 5 July 1918, he entered politics in 1935 at the age of 19 when he became a member of the state Congress led by M Narayana Menon.

Karunakaran is credited as being the father figure who built the party "from a group of nine MLAs in 1967" through two divisions in 1969 and 1978 to a strength of 57 in the 1991 Congress(I)-led UDF ministry.

He first became chief minister on 25 March 1977. However he tendered his resignation within a month following references by the Kerala High Court in what came to be known as ''Rajan case''.