Kochi: Former Kerala Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) chairman K M Mani, 86, passed away in a hospital here on Tuesday. He was under treatment for respiratory illness.
Mani, who represented the Pala constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly for an unbroken half century, is survived by wife Kuttiyamma, daughters Smitha, Sali, Annie and son Jose K Mani, a Rajya Sabha member.
Born at Marangattupalli in 1933 to Karingozhaykkal Thomman Mani and Eliyamma, Mani went to the St Thomas School at Marangattupalli, St Antony's School at Kadaplamattam, St Mary's School at Kuravilangad and St Thomas School at Pala. It was a time of political upheaval in the then princely state of Travancore and the young student took part in agitations for responsible government.
He completed his college education at the St Joseph's College in Tiruchirappally and Sacred Heart's College at Thevara in Kochi. He had made a mark as a public speaker even from his student days. He earned a law degree from the Madras Law College in 1955.
Mani cut his teeth in politics as a block president of the Congress. He was a member of the KPCC from 1959 until 1964 when the Kerala Congress was formed.
Mani was the chief of the district committee of the Congress when senior leader P T Chacko's untimely death sparked a rebellion in the party. K M George led a group of 15 legislators out of the Congress to protest what they viewed as the unjust treatment of Chacko. A new party, the Kerala Congress, was formed in Kottayam in 1964. Almost the entire district committee of the Congress became the new party's unit overnight.
Mani was first elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1965 from the just-formed Pala assembly constituency. He went on to win the next 12 elections, a feat unmatched in Kerala's electoral history. Pala stood by Mani even in the 2016 polls which were conducted in the shadow of a bribery scandal that tainted Mani and another minister in the previous UDF government.
Mani's debut as an MLA was a non-starter. It was a hung assembly. He was sworn in as a legislator after he retained the constituency in 1967. He is the only leader in Kerala to have served as a legislator for 50 years. He broke the record of K R Gowri in March 2014.
Mani also holds a slew of other records. He is the longest-serving minister in the state. He has served in 12 ministries. He has presented 13 budgets as finance minister, an achievement unparalleled even at the national level. The veteran was selected to lead an empowered committee of state finance ministers to debate the rollout of the GST.
Mani first became a minister in December 1975. He was a natural choice for finance minister. He became home minister in the ministry formed after the emergency.
Mani has handled almost all departments in the government, including finance, revenue, home, irrigation, law, housing and electricity. As finance minister, he had presented 13 budgets. Budget for the common man was a news photograph of Mani leaving his house with a black briefcase for the assembly.
Mani was not without his detractors, even within the party. He managed to stay afloat in any crisis, even as many of his colleagues fell by the wayside. He had no hesitation in allying with those who came back with a white flag. Most of the organisation stood by him through the thick and thin of partisan politics. He nurtured the Kerala Congress into a crucial force in state politics.
