Thiruvananthapuram: Kala Kaumudi chief editor and former Kerala Kaumudi Editor-in-Chief M S Mani passed away here on Tuesday. He was 79.

The end came at his residence at Kumarapuram. Born on November 4, 1941, Kollam, he was the grandson of late C V Kunjiraman, a stalwart of Malayalam literature and journalism.

Padmabhushan K Sukumaran and Madhavi Sukumaran were his parents.

A B.Sc. Chemistry graduate from University College, Trivandrum, he had an active role as a leader of the Students Federation and travelled widely even during his college days.

In 1961, he became a staff reporter at Kerala Kaumudi and was posted to Delhi as Parliament Correspondent next year.

The same year, he covered the Chinese aggression into Indian territory in Assam and Meghalaya.

In the early 60s, he covered Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha extensively.

His major exclusives then include the entry of Indian troops into Goa, which was under the Portuguese rule then, and the split in the Communist party of India.

He has also extensively travelled with the then opposition leader and Communist stalwart A K Gopalan.

In 1965, he returned to Trivandrum and took over key editorial responsibilities along with his father K Sukumaran.

M S Mani is widely credited with the election of V K Krishna Menon as an independent candidate from the Trivandrum Lok Sabha constituency, despite the Congress and other parties opposing the latter.

He founded Kala Kaumudi Publications in 1975 and also launched the first Malayalam daily from Mumbai, Kala Kaumudi.

He was a member of the Indian Newspaper Society’s National Executive Committee and also member of All India Newspaper Editors Conference. He is a recipient of Ambedkar and Kesari awards.

He is survived by wife Kasthuri Mani, son Sukumaran Mani – the Managing Director and Editor of Kala Kaumudi Publications - and daughter Valsa Mani, who works with Kerala Kaumudi daily.