Thrissur, 01 July (H.S.):

Senior Congress leader and former Manalur MLA P.A. Madhavan died late on Tuesday while undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in a road accident earlier this year. He was 80.

Madhavan had been undergoing treatment at Renai Medicity Hospital in Ernakulam after suffering serious injuries in a road accident at Mundur in Thrissur in February. Despite months of treatment, he succumbed to his injuries at around 11.14 pm on Tuesday.

A prominent Congress leader with a long career in public life, Madhavan represented the Manalur Assembly constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. Born on September 14, 1946, to Achuthan Nair and Parvathi Amma at Mundur, he began his career as a licensed document writer in 1967. He entered public life at the age of 13 and was actively involved in several socio-political movements, including student protests during the Liberation Struggle.

Over the decades, Madhavan held several key organisational positions in the Congress. He served as Thrissur District Congress Committee president from 2016 to 2017, vice-president from 2006 to 2011 and general secretary from 1980 to 2006. He was also a member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Executive Committee and served as an All India Congress Committee member between 2005 and 2012. Earlier in his political career, he held various positions in the Indian Youth Congress and also served as chairman of the United Democratic Front in Thrissur district.

Beyond politics, Madhavan was closely associated with the cooperative sector and the trade union movement. He headed several cooperative institutions and led unions representing workers in the textile, electricity, railway goods handling and pharmaceutical sectors.

His family has raised suspicions over the circumstances surrounding the February road accident, claiming it occurred just before the election campaign under unexplained circumstances. Police are investigating the complaint.

Madhavan is survived by his wife, Savithri, and son, Sameer.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman