KASARGOD: P B Abdul Razak’s body was taken to his house at Naimarmoola in Kasargod. Later in the evening, the body was taken to Uppala in Manjeshwaram constituency for the public to pay their last respects.Razak, a two-time MLA, registered a dramatic victory in the 2016 Assembly election by defeating K Surendran of the BJP by 89 votes. The slender margin shook the party, but he gifted himself a car and took 89 as its registration number. He first became an MLA in 2011, when he defeated C H Kunhambu of the CPM by 5,828 votes in Manjeshwaram constituency.
Razak, a businessman, was also a member of IUML national working committees.Born on October 1, 1955, to Beeran Moideen and Beefathima, Razak’s schooling stopped at class 4. He entered politics through the Muslim Youth League and went on to become the general secretary of the organisation.
In 1979, he went abroad to make a living, and returned in 1990 and dived into active politics. In 2000, he became the president of Chengala grama panchayat and held the post for seven years. In 2008, he was elected to the district panchayat council and became the district panchayat president in 2009. He is survived by wife Safiya Abdu Razak, and children Saira, Shafeeq, Shyla and Shyma.
Those who paid their last respects include ministers E Chandrasekharan and Kadannappally Ramachandran; Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, deputy opposition leader M K Muneer; MPs P K Kunhalikutty, E T Mohammed Basheer, P V Abdul Wahab and M K Raghavan, MLAs K N A Khader, V K Ebrahimkunju, P K Abdu Rabb, K K Abid Hussain Thangal, T V Ibrahim, Manjalamkuzhi Ali, P Ubaidulla, C Mammootty, N Shamsudheen, K M Shaji, N A Nellikkunnu, C Krishnan, K Kunhiraman, Sunny Joseph, Shafi Parambil, P Abdul Hameed, M Rajagopalan, P T A Rahim and Karat Razack and party leaders Panakkad Sahid Ali Shihab Thangal and Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal.