Veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and former State Secretary of the party's Kerala unit, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, passed away on Saturday, October 1, in Chennai. He was 68 and had been battling ill-health for long. Until recently he held the post of the State Secretary. He quit when his illness made it difficult for him to perform his duties. Kodiyeri was also a politburo member of the CPI(M).
In late August, Kodiyeri had requested the party to relieve him from the post of the party secretary, which he held for three consecutive terms. He had since been admitted to a hospital in Chennai for treatment. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had called on Kodiyeri on September 9 raising speculations that his health conditions had deteriorated.
Senior party leader MV Govindan was elected in his place and the veteran leader took over the post on August 28 after resigning his ministership. Kodiyeri took a temporary break from work due to health issues in November, 2020, after handing over charge to his colleague A Vijayaraghavan. In December 2021, Kodiyeri opened up about his illness while speaking at an event organised by oncologists, a day after he rejoined as the party’s State Secretary after months of treatment. He had cancer, he said, thanking the doctors for early detection.
“I have never shied away from telling anyone about my disease. Awareness about the disease is important as early detection is the key in curing cancer,” he told the audience.
Born in the village of Kodiyeri in Thalassery of Kannur district, he joined the CPI(M) as early as in 1970, when he was still a teenager. He has worked in leadership roles in various frontal organisations of the party for students and youth including the Students Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India. In the Emergency of 1975-77, Kodiyeri was imprisoned for 16 months when he was in his early 20s.
He has also served as the Secretary of the Kannur District Committee of the CPI(M). He got elected as an MLA from Thalassery five times - 1982, 1987, 2001, 2006 and 2011. In 2006, when the Left Democratic Front was elected to power he became the Home Minister.