Thiruvananthapuram, Friday 24 December 2010: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will arrive here to pay their last respects to former Congress chief minister K. Karunakaran, a party source said.

Chidambaran and Sonia Gandhi will arrive at Thiruvananthapuram around 9 am on Friday, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will reach Thrissur, where Karunakaran’s body will be cremated, on Saturday.

Earlier report

Thousands paid their homage to the Former Chief Minister of Kerala and Senior Congress Leader K Karunakaran, who died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday evening. People from all walks of life thronged the residence to pay last their tributes to the mortal remains of the Leader that was kept at his residence ‘Kalyani’ in Nanthencode.

K Karunakaran had died at Ananthapuri hospital in Thiruvananthapuram at 5.30 pm on Thursday. The condition of ailing Congress leader K Karunakaran had been deteriorating since Wednesday as he was put on ventilator support after suffering a stroke.

He was admitted to the Ananthapuri Hospital on December 10 with fever and uneasiness and was diagnosed with chest and urinary infection. K Muraleedharan and Padmaja Venugopal were in the hospital during the time of his death. Congress leaders, supporters and many from different walks of life thronged the hospital after hearing the news.

Briefing reporters at the Ananthapuri Hospital, KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala said the body will soon be taken to his house. From here, the body will be taken to the KPCC office on Friday morning for the people to pay homage and then to the Durbar Hall. By evening, the body will be taken to his native place Thrissur, via national highway.

The congress has cancelled all official programmes of the party and has announced a week’s mourning. Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, Ministers M A Baby, Kadannapally Ramachandran and many others have reached the hospital. The government has declared a holiday tomorrow for all educational institutions and offices.

Karunakaran has been the Chief Minister of Kerala four times. Leader took charge as Chief Minister for the first time on 25-3-1977. He took charge as Chief Minister again on December 28, 1981. However, this ministry did not last long.

He resigned on 17 March 1982, following the withdrawal of support by a member of the Kerala Congress (M). Midterm elections to the 7th Kerala Legislative Assembly was held on May 19, 1982. The Ministry with. K.Karunakaran as Chief Minister assumed office on 24 May 1982 and continued till 1987.

On June 24, 1991, Shri.K.Karunakaran took charge again as Chief Minister of Kerala for the fourth term, and resigned on March 16, 1995, making way for A.K.Antony to take up the Chief Ministership. After A. K. Antony was elected as Kerala chief minister in 2001, Karunakaran was on the warpath with the Government led by his own party and the party high command.

After a series of unsuccessful attempts to regain supremacy in the Kerala wing of the Indian National Congress, the dissidents led by him landed up in the bad books of the Congress high command. With the sharp increase in factional meetings held all over Kerala, mostly led by his son K. Muraleedharan, Indian National Congress suspended Muraleedharan from the party.

As a veteran Parliamentarian, whose career stretches over five decades, Karunakaran has been elected three times to Rajya Sabha and to Lok Sabha twice. He was a member of Rajya Sabha during 1995-97, 1997–98 and 2004-2005.

He has been elected to Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram in 1998 and from Mukundapuram Constituency in 1999. Karunakaran served as the Minister for Industries in the Union Cabinet for one year in 1995.