Senior Congress leader and ex-Kerala minister Aryadan Mohammed passes away

Aryadan Mohammed passed away at the age of 87 following a brief illness, his family said.
Congress leader of Kerala Aryadan Mohammed
Congress leader of Kerala Aryadan Mohammed
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Senior Congress leader and three-time minister from Kerala, Aryadan Mohammed (87) passed away at Kozhikode after a brief illness. Aryadan was considered by many leaders as the 'Chanakya' of Kerala's Congress politics. He was a minister in the AK Antony cabinet and in the Oommen Chandy government, as well as in the CPI(M)-led Left government of EK Nayanar. Aryadan was a tourism and labour minister in the Antony government and was the Electricity minister in the Oomen Chandy government. He was also a member of the CPI(M) leader EK Nayanar-led LDF government in 1980, when the Congress party of Kerala split and the faction owing allegiance to AK Antony joined the Left government. However, the government fell in 1982.

An eight-term MLA from the Nilambur Assembly constituency since 1970, he was a member of the Kerala legislative Assembly till 2016 on the Congress ticket. Aryadan Mohammed was a voracious reader and used to quote profusely from all the international and national publications. In the late 1960s, he was accused and jailed in the murder case of a CPI(M) leader from Nilambur in Kunhali, however, he was later acquited. His funeral will be held at Nilambur on Monday, September 26.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the passing away of Aryadan Mohammed. Pinarayi said that Aryadan will always be remembered as a leader who stood for the secular credentials of the country. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President (KPCC) K Sudhakaran said that Aryadan Mohammed's death was a major loss for the Congress party. The KPCC president said that while Aryadan was suffering from illness, the death was unexpected.

Indian Muslim League leader and MLA KPA Majeed, while speaking to media persons in remembrance of Aryadan Mohammed, said, "Aryadan used to oppose the politics put forward by the Indian Union Muslim League, but he was always in the forefront in Malappuram district for the United Democratic Front alliance. He was the flag-bearer of the UDF in Nilambur which was a CPI-M bastion for years and had wrested that constituency from them. I and the Indian Union Muslim League deeply condole the passing away of the senior leader."   

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