Congress leader and former Minister K.K. Ramachandran, 78, died after a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Kozhikode in the early hours of Thursday.
A native of Koothuparamba in Kannur district, Ramachandran had represented the Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta Assembly segments in Wayanad districts for 27 years. He had thrice won from Kalpetta.
He had been a Minister for Civil Supplies in the A.K. Antony Cabinet during 1995-96 and then again as Minister for Health in the Oommen Chandy Ministry in 2004.
Ramachandran entered politics as a worker of the Youth Congress after resigning the post of a teacher in government service. In a career spanning several decades, he had held various posts including secretary of the Kozhikode District Congress Committee and general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.
In 2011, the Congress party expelled him for raising allegations against senior leaders in a graft case. Later he was reinstated in the party but remained inactive in politics.
He had been spending his twilight years at the house of his son in Kakkodi in Kozhikode.
