Former minister and deputy speaker K Narayana Kurup, 86, who was known for his humour sense and flair for words, died here owing to age-related ailments on Wednesday. He was under treatment for severe fever in a private hospital at Manganam near here for the past few days and his health condition deteriorated a couple of days ago. He breathed his last around 2 pm on Wednesday. He is the father of Kanjirappally MLA N Jayaraj.
Kurup was a senior leader of the Kerala Congress (M). He had been keeping away from active politics for a few years owing to ill health.
His mortal remains were brought to his ancestral house, Nadamel Tharavadu, at Champakkara near Karukachal on Wednesday afternoon for the public to pay homage. The funeral will be held at 2 pm on Thursday.
Kurup was born as the son of K P Krishnan Nair and Kuttiyamma on October 23, 1927 in Karukachal. He was first elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly (KLA) through a by-election to the second KLA as a Congress candidate, from Vazhoor constituency in 1963 following the death of the then Health Minister V K Velappan. He quit Congress in the following year and assisted in the formation of the Kerala Congress. When the Kerala Congress witnessed a split, he stood by K M Mani faction. He became MLA again in 1970, 1977, 1991, 1996 and 2001 from Vazhoor Constituency. He served as the Minister for Transport and Excise from January 1977 to October 1979 in four ministries, headed by C Achutha Menon, K Karunakaran, A K Antony and P K Vasudevan Nair. He was the Deputy Speaker in the K Karunakaran and A K Antony ministries from July 1991 to May 1996. Kurup also performed the duties of the office of Speaker from May 4, 1995 to June 26, 1995. He is survived by wife K Leela Devi and four sons and three daughters.
