Kodiyeri Balakrishnan passes away, CPM's popular face bids farewell

CHENNAI: Former CPM state secretary and Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has passed away. He was 68 years old. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer for a long time. He breathed his last at Apollo Hospital, Chennai around 8.10 pm today. He was admitted to Apollo Hospital two weeks ago for specialist treatment. His wife Vinodini and sons Binoy and Bineesh were present at the time of his death.

Kodiyeri had vacated the post of CPM state secretary two weeks ago due to poor health. He was elected as the CPM state secretary for the third time in a row at the state conference held in Kochi last March.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was born on November 13, 1953 to late Kodiyeri Mottammal Kunjunnikurup and late Narayaniamma in Kannur. His father died when he was six years old. He entered student politics as the KSF unit secretary while studying in the 8th standard at Onion Public High School. Due to a conflict with RSS, his family did not send him to study after class 10 and sent him to Chennai. After working in a Chit Fund company for two months, he returned and joined M.G. College, Mahe for a pre-degree.

Kodiyeri, who continued his student politics by forming the KSF in Mahe College, later became the KSF unit secretary of the college and the college union chairman. He later graduated from University College, Thiruvananthapuram. He also worked as SFI All India Joint Secretary and was arrested under MISA Act during the Emergency and spent 16 months in jail. He was released from jail after the emergency was lifted. It was those days in prison that made Pinarayi and Kodiyeri close friends.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who also stepped into the trade union arena, became a member of CPM's Eengayilpeedika, branch in Kannur. He became the local secretary at the age of 18 and became the district secretary of Kannur at the age of 36. Kannur has never had another district secretary at such a young age. He became a member of the Politburo at the age of 54. He represented Thalassery in the Legislative Assembly in 1982, 87, 2001, 2006 and 2011. He became the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in 2006 and 2011. He had served as the Minister of Home Affairs and Tourism in the Achuthanandan government that came to power in 2006.

In 2015, he was elected as the CPM state secretary. In 2018, he again became the secretary at the Thrissur conference.