Bengaluru:Kerala Assembly Speaker and senior Congress leader G Karthikeyan, who was undergoing treatment for liver cancer at a hospital here, passed away today due to multi-organ failure. Karthikeyan’s condition deteriorated due to multi-organ failure and he passed away at 10.30 AM, HCG Cancer Centre Director (Healthcare Services) Dine-sh Madhavan told PTI in Bengaluru.
Karthikeyan (66) is survived by his wife and two sons. He was suffering from Hepato Cellular Cancer (liver cancer) with chronic liver disease and was admitted to HCG Cancer Centre for specialised treatment, Madhavan said.
Karthikeyan was being treated by a multi-disci-plinary expert team headed by Dr P S Sridhar, he said, adding, “His liver functions deteriorated for which he was on advanced liver support system.” Karthi-keyan was taken to the US for treatment last year after which he was shifted to the hospital in Bengaluru.
Known for his clean image and easy accessi-bility, Karthikeyan began his political career as an activist of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of Congress. He later served as the state president of the Union. He held the portfolios of Elec-tricity and Food and Civil Supplies in the two minis-tries of the A K Antony in 1995 and 2001 respec-tively. A six-time MLA, he represe-nted Thiruvanan-thapuram North, Aryanad and Aruvi-kkara consti-tuencies.
A former AICC member, he also served as General Secretary and Vice Preside-nt of Kerala Pradesh Cong-ress Committee. Karthi-keyan represented Aruvi-kkara constituency in the present Assembly after winning in 2011 Assembly elections.He had courted con-troversy just after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when he expressed a desire to step down as Speaker and return to active politics. This was not accepted by the party high command which asked him to continue as Speaker.(PTI)
