Veteran Marxist trade unionist and ex-CPM leader V B Cheriyan passed away at a private hospital here on Saturday. He was 68.
Cheriyan who hailed from Tiruvalla, had served as the former national secretary of CITU and was a member of the CPM state committee. He had been a leukaemia patient for the past few years.
According to hospital authorities, he died of respiratory trouble. He is survived by wife, Alice Cheriyan, son, Sudhin Ben Cheriyan, daughter Sona Cheriyan and son-in-law Dilish.
A militant face of the then CITU faction in the CPM, Cheriyan was sidelined with other CITU stalwarts like M M Lawrence and K N Ravindranath in an inner party struggle after the 1998 state conference of the party. By 1999, he was expelled from the CPM for allegedly violating party disciplinary norms.
After his dismissal, Cheriyan formed the BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Vedi and mobilised other dissident CPM activists.
Later in 2005, Janakeeya Vedi merged with a group of splinter groups from the CPM and formed the Marxist Communist Party of India (United), known as MCPI(U).
At the time of his demise, Cheriyan was the politburo member of the MCPI(U). He was also the national vice-president of the New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI).