End of five-decade political journey: CPM veteran Baby John passes away

THRISSUR: Senior CPM leader and former Thrissur district secretary Baby John has passed away after a prolonged illness. He had been undergoing treatment for some time.

A former member of the CPM state secretariat, Baby John was a veteran organiser who played a long-standing role in the party's growth in Thrissur. He began associating with the Left movement in 1969 and became a CPM member in 1971. He held several organisational positions, including Paluvai branch secretary and secretary of the Thaikkad and Chavakkad local committees. He served as Chavakkad area secretary from 1984 to 1997 and became a member of the CPM Thrissur district committee in 1986. He was elevated to the district secretariat in 1997 and took charge as Thrissur district secretary in July 2006. He later served on the CPM state secretariat.

Baby John was also active in the CITU and served as its Thrissur district secretary. He was involved in trade union activities representing beedi workers, fishermen, toddy workers, head-load workers and other sections of the working class. He began his professional career as a teacher at PVM LP School, Blangad, in Thaikkad, in 1971. He voluntarily retired from teaching in 1991 and became a full-time political worker. He was active in protests during the Emergency and was arrested under the Defence of India Rules. He also spent about two and a half months in jail during the period.

Baby John contested the 2011 Kerala Assembly election from the Manalur constituency as an LDF candidate. His political career, spanning more than five decades, was marked primarily by organisational and trade union work. His death marks the loss of a veteran CPM organiser who remained active in the party's political and organisational affairs in Thrissur for decades.