Thennala Balakrishna Pillai laid to rest with full state honours

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Renowned for his gentle demeanour and admired as a guiding light by Congress leaders and workers alike, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai was laid to rest with full state honours on Saturday. His mortal remains were consigned to flames at Shanthikavadam in Thycaud at 2 p.m., in the presence of close family members and Congress leaders.

The funeral was conducted with official honors by the state police, and large crowds gathered at various venues—his residence, the KPCC headquarters, and the Ayyappa Seva Sangham in Kizhakke Kotta—for public viewing, to bid a final farewell to the beloved leader known for his simplicity and charisma, as pure and appealing as white khadi.

At 11 a.m., Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, accompanied by Minister V. Sivankutty, visited the KPCC office to pay his respects.

Other prominent leaders who paid homage included Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, KPCC President Sunny Joseph and Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan.

The body was brought from his residence in Nettayam to the KPCC headquarters by 11:15 a.m. Congress Working Committee members A.K. Antony, Ramesh Chennithala, Kodikkunnil Suresh MP, KPCC Working President P.C. Vishnunath, and former KPCC presidents V.M. Sudheeran, K. Sudhakaran, M.M. Hassan, Mullappally Ramachandran, and K. Muraleedharan draped the party flag over his body.

UDF Convenor Adoor Prakash MP, Former Speaker M. Vijayakumar, RSP leaders Shibu Baby John, Babu Divakaran, CPI leader C. Divakaran, Neelalohithadasan Nadar, BJP leader O. Rajagopal and J.R. Padmakumar, MPs Rajmohan Unnithan, Anto Antony, M.K. Raghavan, A.A. Rahim, MLAs M. Vincent, Mathew Kuzhalnadan, Youth Congress President Rahul Mankootathil, Leaders Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, M. Liju, G.S. Babu, G. Subodhan, Mariapuram Sreekumar, K.P. Sreekumar, M.M. Naseer, N. Sakthan, Pazhakulam Madhu, V.S. Sivakumar, Joseph Vazhakkan, Cheriyan Philip, Bindu Krishna, DCC President Palode Ravi, KSU State President Aloysius Xavier, Former MPs and Congress leaders including N. Peethambarakurup, Pandalam Sudhakaran, V. Surendran Pillai, INTUC State President K. Chandrasekharan, Leaders K. Pishankara Das, T. Sharatchandra Prasad, K. Mohankumar, Manakkad Suresh, M.A. Wahid and film producer Ranjith paid their final tributes to the dear leader. A wreath was laid on behalf of AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal MP by KPCC Working President A.P. Anil Kumar.