THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: E Chandrasekharan Nair, veteran CPI leader and three-time minister, died at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences here on Wednesday. He was 89.
Chandrasekharan Nair, who was leading a retired life at Kowdiar, here, had been ailing for some time. He is married to Manorama Nair. The cremation will be held at Santhi Kavadam on Friday.
Best known for his pioneering work with the co-operative movement and the establishment of the Maveli Stores during his stint as Food Minister, Chandrasekharan Nair was minister thrice in the E K Nayanar ministry on all three occasions.
He was Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Housing from January 25, 1980, to October 20, 1981; Food and Civil Supplies Minister from April 2, 1987, to June 17, 1991; and again as Food and Tourism Minister from May 20, 1996, to May 13, 2001.
Known as a gentle, soft-spoken man, Chandrasekharan Nair was part of the first Kerala Assembly of 1957 led by E M S Namboothiripad. His political life had begun at a young age when he joined the Students' Congress at the Annamalai University. He had a stint with the Indian Socialist Party before joining the Communist Party of India in 1952.
He was MLA on six occasions and was elected to the first Assembly from Kottarakkara. He was again elected to the third Assembly but quit to make way for C Achutha Menon's election to the House. In the fifth and sixth Assemblies, he represented Chadayamangalam, and in 1987, he won from Pathanapuram. He has also represented Karunagapally in the House. In the Assembly, he also headed the ad hoc committee that recommended the formation of subject committees.
A practicing lawyer till 1970, he had a long relationship with the cooperative movement and was president of the Kollam District Co-operative Bank for three decades. He is also a former chairman of the All India State Co-operative Bank Federation.