Kerala state secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Kanam Rajendran passed away on the evening of Friday, December 8, at a private hospital in Kochi. He was 73 and suffering from acute diabetics. Only a day ago, he had applied for three months’ leave, citing health issues, and recommended that CPI leader Binoy Viswam take over the reins in his absence. The national executive committee was supposed to take a decision on the matter later this month.
Kanam Rajendran had headed the CPI, the biggest ally of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leading the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, for eight years. He was appointed secretary in March 2015, a year before the LDF came to power. Kanam was known to often publicly air views which went against the line taken by the CPI(M). He had stated his strong opposition to stances taken by the LDF government in its ambitious Silverline rail project, the Vizhinjam seaport project and the cases registered under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Kanam had been a member of the state council of the CPI for 45 years before he was elected as its secretary in 2015. He was re-elected a second time during the state conference of the party in Malappuram in 2018. Four years later, in October 2022, Kanam was elected for the third consecutive term.
He was a former legislator of the state Assembly, representing the Vazhoor constituency in Kottayam from 1982 to 1991. He had in his younger days held the post of secretary of the All India Youth Federation, youth wing of the CPI.
LDF convener EP Jayarajan said that the leader’s death was unexpected, since he had shown a lot of courage in the face of illness. EP called Kanam a strong Communist leader who contributed a lot to the unity of the LDF. CPI(M) general secretary MV Govindan also echoed EP’s words, saying that Kanam was the leader who had contributed most to the unity of the front. His life was an open book that people could learn a lot from, Govindan said.