Kottayam: The Kerala unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) observed the fifth death anniversary of its former national general secretary Jimmy George at all district committee offices and state committee office, adhering to COVID-19 protocol.
At the function held in Kottayam presided by NCP Kottayam district president Benny Myladoor, KFDC chairperson and NCP state vice-president Lathika Subhash, State general secretary Subash Punchakottil, and S D Suresh Babu paid tributes to the late leader.
Jimmy George's son Ajish Jimmy George, who is also the state general secretary of Nationalist Youth Congress (NYC), thanked NCP state president P C Chacko for organising a state-wide remembrance event amid the pandemic.
P C Chacko and Lathika Subhash visited Jimmy George's house in Kollad and met his family members.
Forest minister A K Saseendran did not attend the event as he tested positive for COVID-19 a few days back. Both Saseendran and MLA Thomas K Thomas offered tributes through Facebook posts.
Jimmy George played a key role in the growth of NCP in Kerala, Lakshadweep and North-eastern states. He also aided the merger of NCP and K Karunakaran-led Democratic Indira Congress (DIC-K) in 2006. Jimmy George, who maintained a close relationship with many national leaders like NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former union minister and MP Praful Patel, AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar and former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, also had a good rapport with prominent leaders in Kerala cutting across political lines.
Jimmy George, who passed away on January 27, 2017, was also NCP's national working committee member and chairman of the state government-owned Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Co Ltd (KEL).
A confidant of industrialist Gokulam Gopalan, Jimmy George was also a director at the Sree Gokulam Group of Companies.
