CM offers condolence
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan offered his condolences to the bereaved family.
Mr. Pillai was chairman of the Kerala State Welfare Commission for Forward Communities. He enjoyed Cabinet rank privileges.
He was also long a member of the Board of Directors of the Nair Service Society (NSS) and chairperson of the Kerala Congress (B).
NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair paid his respects to the departed leader. He said Mr. Pillai had contributed immensely to the social organisation. “It is a sorrowful day for the NSS,” he said.
Mr. Pillai was active till recently. He had inaugurated the campaign office of his son and Kerala Congress (B) legislator from Pathanapuram, K. B. Ganesh Kumar, gave television interviews, publicly predicted the LDF s comeback and guided the party s electioneering.
A mixed bag for Mollywood as star candidates fail to weave magic in Kerala
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Last Updated: May 03, 2021, 01:51 PM IST
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Synopsis
Film actors Mukesh and K B Ganesh Kumar, both contested as ruling LDF nominees, and well-known producer- actor Mani C Kappan, a UDF candidate, came out victorious, while a handful of their small and big screen colleagues had to settle for distressing second or third positions.
Agencies
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led theruling CPI(M)-headed LDF in Kerala to a resounding victory in the Assembly polls.
Kerala has once again proved that on-screen glamour is not enough to win election battles as a majority of the film and television celebrities who tried their luck in April 6 Assembly polls bit the dust when the results were announced on Sunday.
R. Balakrishna Pillai
The seven-time legislator from Kottarakara held portfolios of Electricity, Excise and Transport in the Ministries of C. Achutha Menon, K. Karunakaran, E.K. Nayanar and A. K. Antony. The political career of Keezhoote Raman Pillai Balakrishna Pillai, veteran leader and Kerala Congress (B) supremo, was storied and mired in controversies.
A seasoned politician and seven-time legislator from Kottarakara, he had held portfolios of Electricity, Excise and Transport in the Ministries of C. Achutha Menon, K. Karunakaran, E.K. Nayanar and A. K. Antony. The youngest MLA to be elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1960, he served as the chairman of Kerala State Welfare Corporation for Forward Communities during his last days.
The 87-year-old R. Balakrishna Pillai, one of Kerala s stalwart politician breathed his last at a hospital at Kottarakara on Monday, said family sources. Pillai was ailing due to old age problems and was a few days back admitted to the hospital following breathing problems. However he passed away after coming to know that his film star son K.B. Ganesh Kumar won his fifth straight assembly elections from Pathanapuram in Kollam district. Pillai s glorious political career began in 1960, when he won his first assembly election from Pathanapuram as a Congress candidate and then he had no reason to look back till 2006, when he lost from his home base at Kottarakara and after that he has stayed away from electoral politics.
May 3, 2021, 07:44 AM IST
R Balakrishna Pillai
Kollam: Kerala Congress (B) chairman R Balakrishna Pillai passed away on Monday early morning due to age related ailments. He was 86. He was admitted to a private hospital in Kottarakkara in Kollam a few days back and was in ventilator support. The end came at the hospital. It was K B Ganeshkumar, son of Balakrishna Pillai, who announced the death news.
He was first elected to the Assembly in 1960 from Pathanapuram. Later he won from Kottarakkara in 1965. He won from the Kottarakkara Assembly constituency consecutively from 1977 to 2006. In 2006, Pillai was defeated by CPM’s Aisha Potty and after that he did not contest.