Senior Congress leader and former MP Thalekkunnil Basheer, 79, died here on Friday. Basheer, who was a popular minority leader of the party, retired from active politics in 2016 following ill health. He died at 4.20am on Friday at his residence at Vembayam where he had been leading a retired life.
The mortal remains have been shifted to Gokulam Medical College hospital mortuary. Funeral will be held on Saturday.
Basheer was born in 1945 at Thalekkunnu village, near Venjarammoodu. He started his public life as a KSU worker. In 1969, he was elected as the first chairman of Kerala University Union. After completing LLB and enrolling as a lawyer, Thalekkunnil Basheer shifted to active politics.
He won from Kazhakoottam assembly constituency in 1977 but quit the seat a few months later for AK Antony who had replaced K Karunakaran as the chief minister by then.
Basheer was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1977, at the age of 32 years. He is the youngest member to be elected to Rajya Sabha from Kerala. He was re-elected to the upper house in 1979. In 1984 and in 1989, Basheer was elected to Lok Sabha from Chirayinkeezhu.
A staunch loyalist of AK Antony, Basheer served as the president of Thiruvananthapuram DCC from 1980 to 1989. In 2011, he held the interim charge as KPCC president for a few months.
Condoling the death, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Basheer was a leader who believed firmly in the ideals of Congress.