Kozhikode: Former Kerala Minister K K Ramachandran passed away in Kozhikode on Thursday. He was 84. The former Congress leader breathed his last at a private hospital around 3 am on Thursday after suffering a major cardiac arrest.
Ramachandran, who represented Sultan Bathery and Kalpetta Assembly constituencies for 27 years, was a general secretary of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and a member of All India Congress Committee (AICC).
He had served as minister for food and civil supplies in A K Antony government between 1995 and 96 and also as health minister in Oommen Chandy government between 2004 and 2006.
Ramachandran was ousted from the Congress in 2011 for raising corruption allegations against party leaders. Though he came back to the party later, he did not get any key positions.
The former Congress leader, who played a key role in creation of Wayanad district, was elected to the Assembly six times.
Ramachandran, a teacher by profession, was born to P Narayanan Nambiar and Rugmini Amma on December 11, 1936. He was a native of Kuthuparamba in Kannur district.
He also served as secretary of the Congress Legislature Party (1982-87); secretary of the DCC Kozhikode (1969-74); vice president of the INTUC state committee (1978); general secretary of the KPCC (1984); president of the Kozhikode DCC (1980); member of the Indian Coffee Board; president of the Water Authority Employees Association, CWDRM Employees Association and Kerala State Retail Ration Dealers Association.
