THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Parliamentary affairs, SC/ST Welfare and Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan has bid adieu to the Legislative Assembly, where he served as Speaker once and minister twice.
In a moving farewell speech in the House on Wednesday, Radhakrishnan recalled his long association with the assembly, state politics and political leaders of different parties. Radhakrishnan, the lone LDF candidate to win Lok Sabha polls in the state this time, will soon resign as Chelakkara MLA.
Addressing the House on Wednesday, Radhakrishnan said that it would be in the ongoing 11th session of the 15th Assembly, that he would part ways with the assembly. The 60-year-old leader recalled that he had come to the House for the first time in 1996 and continued to be part of all assemblies except during 2016-21. In 1996, as a first-time legislator, he became a minister in the E K Nayanar cabinet.
Veteran leaders with whom he worked include T K Ramakrishnan, Babyjohn, Susheela Gopalan, E Chandrasekharan Nair, P R Kurup, A C Shanmughadas, Sivadasamenon, V K Rajan and Krishnan Kaniyamparambil. He also referred to leaders from other political affiliations, including Oommen Chandy, K R Gowri Amma, K M Mani, R Balakrishna Pillai, T M Jacob, Abdulla Haji, K Narayana Kurup, former speaker Vakkom Purushothaman, and ex-deputy speaker Sundaran Nadar.
He took the opportunity to mention his 1996 cabinet colleague and current Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan too. He referred to how Pinarayi, as the then power minister, had taken major initiatives to ensure that the state did not reel under power shortage.