Veteran Congress leader and four-time Chief Minister of Kerala and former Union Minister Kannoth Karunakaran died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, a private TV channel reported. Karunakaran was admitted to the hospital with severe breathing problem and fever on December 10. His condition worsened Wednesday following a stroke and was put on ventilator since then.
Karunakaran was a member of the Cochin Legislative Assembly way back in 1948 and Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly three times in 1949, 1952 and 1954. He has been elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly from Mala constituency in Thrissur distriict seven times consecutively He was a member of the Rajya Sabha during 1995-97, 1997-98 and 2004-2005. He represented Thiruvananthapuram in Lok Sabha in 1998 and Mukunda-puram in 1999.