THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said CMP leader M V Raghavan, who passed away on Sunday, gave a new direction to the cooperative movement in the state. ‘’The Pariyaram Medical College, AKG Memorial Cooperative Hospital in Kannur and the Ayurveda Medical College at Parassinikadavu are living memorials to him,’’ Chandy said.
M V Raghavan always stood for the common man on public issues, Speaker G Karthikeyan said in his condolence message. Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan remembered Raghavan as an eminent organiser who was instrumental in building the CPM. ‘’He took an anti-CPM stand after his expulsion from the party. But recently, he had expressed his willingness to work with the Left movement,’’ Achuthanandan said in his message.
CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said Raghavan’s tenure in the CPM was a heroic episode in the party’s history.‘’He took great efforts to protect the party during Emergency. Though he took and an anti-Communist stand while in the opposite front, he later re-examined the decision,’’ Vijayan said.
CPI state secretary Pannian Raveendran said Raghavan stood for Left unity during his last days. He said Raghavan would be remembered as a leader of determination. CMP acting general secretary C P John said Raghavan faced testing times during his 28 years as the party general secretary. ‘’His memories would help us build a new Communist movement,’’ he said. Power Minister Aryadan Muhammed, Finance Minister K M Mani, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Rural Development Minister K C Joseph, Scheduled Castes Development Minister A P Anilkumar, Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Irrigation Minister P J Joseph, Social Welfare Minister M K Muneer and A Sampath MP also condoled M V Raghavan’s death.