Kodiyeri Balakrishnan (16 November 1953 – 1 October 2022) was an Indian politician of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

. He was the secretary of the CPI(M) Kerala State Committee from 2015 to 2022. He stepped down from the position of state secretary due to his failing health. He was the Chief Editor of the Malayalam newspaper ''

Deshabhimani ''Deshabhimani'' is a Malayalam newspaper and the organ of the Kerala State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). It started as a weekly in Calicut on 6 September 1942 and converted to a daily in 1946. The paper now has ten diffe ...

''. Balakrishnan was the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016, and also served as the State Minister of Home Affairs and Tourism from 2006 to 2011 under the Achuthananadan Ministry. He represented Thalassery State Assembly Constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 1991 and again from 2001 to 2016.

Political life

Balakrishnan entered politics through the student wing of the CPI(M) in 1970. He was Secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and its All India Joint Secretary between 1973 and 1979. During the time of the emergency, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was imprisoned under MISA for 16 months. From 1980 to 1982, he was the Kannur District President of

Democratic Youth Federation of India Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is a youth organisation in India. It was founded in its inaugural conference held from 1–3 November 1980 at Shaheed Kartar Singh Saraba village in Ludhiana, Punjab. DYFI identifies itself to be an i ...

(DYFI). He was a CPI (M) Politburo member and was CPI (M) Parliamentary Party Deputy Leader. He was elected as an MLA to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1982, 1987, 2001, 2006 and 2011 from

Thalassery Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the List of districts of India, districts of Mahé, India, Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode ...

. He was ''Minister of Home affairs of Kerala'' during the time of V S Achudanandan Ministry. On 23 February 2015, he was elected as the Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala State Committee for a period of 3 years. He was re-elected for a second term as a State Secretary in 2018 and for a third term in March 2022. On 28 August 2022, he stepped down from the position due to failing health and was succeeded by M. V. Govindan.

Personal life and death

Balakrishnan was born in Kodiyeri,

to Kunjunni Kurup and Narayani Amma on 16 November 1953. He studied in Kodiyeri Junior Basic School and Oniyan High School. He became active in politics while studying at Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College, Mahé and was active in University College, Thiruvananthapuram. In 1980, he married S. R. Vinodini, daughter of ex- MLA M. V. Rajagopalan Master and had two children, Binoy Kodiyeri and Bineesh Kodiyeri. Balakrishnan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and admitted in

Apollo Hospital Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited is an Indian multinational healthcare group headquartered in Chennai. Along with the eponymous hospital chain, the company also operates pharmacies, primary care and diagnostic centres, telehealth clinics, ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

from 28 August 2022 in view of worsening health. He died on 1 October 2022, at the age of 68.

References

External links

Biography of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on the CPIM website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balakrishnan, Kodiyeri 1953 births 2022 deaths People from Thalassery Malayali politicians Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala Kerala MLAs 1982–1987 Kerala MLAs 1987–1991 Kerala MLAs 2001–2006 Kerala MLAs 2011–2016 Kerala MLAs 2006–2011