Ex-Kerala minister and Congress leader M T Padma dies at 81

Kozhikode (Kerala) | Former Kerala Minister and senior Congress leader M T Padma passed away in Mumbai on Tuesday due to age-related ailments, party sources said.

She was 81 and is survived by two children, a son and a daughter.

Her death occurred while she had been residing in Mumbai with her daughter for the last three years. Her body will be brought to Kozhikode on Wednesday, and the cremation will take place on Thursday, they added.

Elected from the Koyilandy Assembly constituency twice, Padma served as the Minister for Fisheries, Rural Development, and the Registration Department in the UDF government during 1991-96.

A law graduate with an honorary degree in Arts, Padma entered politics through the Congress's student wing, the Kerala Students Union (KSU).

She served in various roles, including State Vice President of KSU, member of the KPCC, General Secretary of the Mahila Congress, Secretary of the Kozhikode DCC, and Treasurer.

Although she contested elections to the Lok Sabha from Palakkad in 1999 and from Vadakara in 2004, she was unsuccessful.

She joined the Democratic Indira Congress when it was founded by Congress stalwart K Karunakaran but later returned to the Congress.

In 2013, she was elected as a Congress councillor in the Kozhikode Corporation and became the party's parliamentary party leader.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, condoled Padma's death.

The demise of Padma is an irreparable loss to the Congress family, Satheesan said in a statement.