Kochi: Thousands of people from various walks of life paid their last respects to veteran CPM leader M M Lawrence at the public homage ceremony held in Lenin centre here on Monday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also arrived to pay tribute to the senior politician. After the public homage at Lenin centre, mortal remains of the leader was taken to Ernakulam town hall. The leader's body will be kept at the town hall for public viewing till 4 pm on Monday. Later, the mortal remains will be donated to Ernakulam Government Medical College for medical research.
Lawrence, 95 breathed his last while undergoing treatment at Medical Trust Hospital here. He was under treatment for over a month due to age-related ailments.
Lawrence had been a fierce critic of veteran CPM leader V S Achuthanandan. In his biography, Ormacheppu Thurakkumbol, he unleashed scathing references against Achuthanandan and recollected instances of factionalism that had plagued the party. In 1998, he was demoted from the central committee to the Kadavanthra area committee based on a report that probed his activities related to the Save CPM forum. He returned to the state committee and became the General Secretary of CITU.
He was married to late Baby. He is survived by sons M L Sajeevan, ML Abi and daughter Asha Lawrence.
