Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader Thalekunnil Basheer passed away today. He was 79. He was undergoing treatment for more than five years following a heart attack.
“He left us early Friday morning at his residence in Vembayam,” news agency PTI quotes a senior Congress leader as saying.
Basheer was elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Chirayankeezhu constituency. He was also a Rajya Sabha member twice. Basheer was elected to the state Assembly in 1977 from Kazhakkoottam constituency however later resigned to enable senior leader A K Antony contest from there.
He is survived by his wife Suhra, sister of actor Prem Nazir, and two children.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the demise of Basheer and said he upheld the values of Congress politics. “Basheer used to intervene in the issues affecting the public and upheld the general interest of the society,” Vijayan said in his condolences message.
