THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior leader of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and its national general secretary TJ Chandrachoodan passed away. He was 82.
He was suffering from old age-related ailments and the end came while being treated at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday morning. Chandrachoodan joined full-time politics after quitting his job as a teacher in the Devaswom Board College. He was among the few state level leaders of any party who had not held parliamentary positions.
He was born on 20 April 1940 in Thiruvananthapuram. During his student days he was an active member of the students' wing of the RSP. In 1969 he joined the Devaswom Board college as a lecturer and quit the job in 1987. Chandrachoodan became a member of the RSP state secretariat in 1975 and was elevated to the national secretariat in 1990. He took charge as the party's state secretary in 1999. He became the party's national general secretary in 2008 and held the post for the next ten years. He unsuccessfully contested the legislative assembly three times.
In 1982 and 1987 he contested from Thiruvananthapuram West and from Aryanad in 2006. He had served as a member of the Public Services Commission.