Pala: The mortal remains of Kerala Congress (M) chairman and former State minister K M Mani were laid to rest with full State honours at the St Thomas Cathedral cemetery here Thursday.
The funeral service was led by Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis Bava.
Thousands of people assembled at his residence and the Church paid tributes to Mani, 86, who died at a private hospital in Kochi on Tuesday evening while undergoing treatment for pulmonary disease.
His body was brought to Kottayam, the centre of his political activities for many decades, on Thursday.
A funeral procession carrying the remains of the leader from Lakeshore Hospital in Kochi reached Thirunakkara ground in Kottayam town at 12:55am, travelling via Thrippunithara, Vaikom, Thalayolaparambu, Kaduthuruthy and Ettumanoor.
On Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered along the streets of various towns en route to Kottayam, through which the body was taken in a state-owned bus, and paid their last respects to the departed leader. The mortal remains was later taken to his hometown Pala.
The funeral prayers were conducted at his residence at 2 pm on Thurday.
Leaders of various political parties, including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Congress leaders V M Sudheeran, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, NSS chief G Sukumaran Nair, CPM leader and LDF's Kottayam Lok Sabha candidate V N Vasavan, NDA's Lok Sabha candidate P C Thomas and actor Mammootty among others, were gathered to pay their last respect to the late Kerala Congress (M) chief.
Mani, who never lost an Assembly election since 1967, was suffering from a lung ailment and was in the hospital for the past one week. He had been unwell since January.
Announcing the death, a doctor told the media that Mani's condition turned worse after 11:30am on Tuesday and he died at 4.57pm.
Mani, who represented the Pala constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly for an unbroken half century, is survived by wife Kuttiyamma, daughters Elsamma, Tessy, Smitha, Sali, Annie and son Jose K Mani, a Rajya Sabha member.
Life extraordinaire
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.
He often used to say that he has two wives: one is Kuttiyama and the other is Pala.
Mani first became a state Minister in 1975 in the C Achutha Menon cabinet and since then he sat in the cabinets of E K Nayanar, P K Vasudevan Nair, C H Mohammed Koya, K Karunakaran, A K Antony and Oommen Chandy.
He holds the state record of having presented 13 budgets.
He is survived by his wife, Kuttiyamma, son Jose K Mani, a Rajya Sabha member, and daughters Elsamma, Annie, Smitha, Tessy, Sally.
"I feel a void at this point and feel left alone," said Jose K Mani.
Tributes
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Mani's death had left Kerala grieving.
"He was certainly a very tall politician and is going to be missed in Kerala politics. He had proved his mettle in his job as a very effective minister," he said.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "Shri KM Mani was a stalwart of Kerala politics. His impeccable electoral record indicated his deep connect with the citizens of the state.
His rich contribution to the state will be remembered. Pained by his demise.
Condolences to his family and supporters. RIP."
Condoling the death, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said the country has lost a veteran political leader who served the nation, especially Kerala, for his entire life with dedication.
"I have fond memories of interacting with Mani as finance minister and prime minister. He was also a dear friend of mine. He was very knowledgeable in financial matters and public affairs," Singh said in a message to his son Jose K Mani.
Expressing "deep grief" over the leader's death, Governor P Sathasivam said the senior legislator had earned the people's unstinted support through welfare measures like pension for farmers and Karunya Lottery scheme.
Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal described Mani as an all-time "tall leader" of the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the "doyen" of Kerala politics.
"Mani was a leader who had created history in parliamentary politics. Though he had stayed away from the UDF for a brief while, his heart was always with the front," he said.
Paying tributes to the departed leader, BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai said Mani was a politician who was a model to future generations.
Mani's party colleague and senior KC-M leader, P J Joseph said the death was a "big loss" to Kerala politics.
Whatever positions he had held in his decades-long political career, Pala, his constituency which he had represented in the state assembly,had a special place in his mind, Joseph said.
Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan remembered Mani who had actively participated in the businesses of the state assembly even during the last session.