Key Takeaways:
- KK Narayanan dies after collapsing during a class at Peralassery Mundaloor New LP School.
- The 77-year-old former Dharmadam MLA was taken to hospital but did not regain consciousness.
- He rose from humble beginnings and served in multiple public roles, including district party leadership and cooperative bank president.
- His son Suneesh currently serves as the Peralassery panchayat president.
KK Narayanan, a veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a former MLA for the Dharmadam constituency in Kannur, has died at the age of 77 after collapsing while teaching local history to schoolchildren.
KK Narayanan dies while teaching students
Witnesses said Narayanan collapsed on school grounds at Peralassery Mundaloor New LP School during a campus session when he was addressing pupils about regional history. He was rushed to hospital, but doctors were unable to save him. Local party members and residents gathered at the hospital and later at his home to pay their respects.
Mr Narayanan served as the Dharmadam MLA in 2011. He later vacated the seat in favour of Pinarayi Vijayan, demonstrating a willingness to place party strategy above personal ambition. Over several decades he was a visible presence in Kannur politics and civic life.
From modest origins to public service
Born into modest circumstances, Narayanan left formal education after fifth grade because of poverty. In 1959 he joined the Sadhu beedi factory near Peralassery High School as a worker. A keen reader, he used to read newspapers, periodicals, novels and poetry to his colleagues during breaks. That taste for reading and public engagement helped shape his later political work.
On the party’s recommendation he left his factory job in 1981 to become a full-time activist with the CPI(M). He held a number of public offices, including president of the Kannur district panchayat and president of AKG Hospital. He was also a member of the CPI(M) district secretariat for 29 years.
Beyond party roles, Narayanan gained recognition in cooperative and civic institutions. He served as president of the district cooperative bank and as chairman of the Parassinikkadavu Vismaya Park. He participated in many protests and was on the receiving end of police baton charges on more than one occasion.
Among his surviving family is his son Suneesh, who currently serves as the president of Peralassery panchayat. Local leaders praised Narayanan for his long record of grassroots service and his commitment to education and community institutions.
Tributes poured in from across Kannur district and from party colleagues. Senior local leaders described him as a committed public servant who combined organisational work with attention to local welfare and co‑operative development. His funeral arrangements were expected to be announced by the family and the party in the coming days.
This sudden death has prompted an outpouring of grief in the communities where he worked for decades. Schoolchildren who were present at the campus session have been offered counselling by local authorities and the school has said it will co‑operate with any investigations into the circumstances of his collapse.
KK Narayanan’s life reflected a trajectory familiar in Kerala politics: early hardship, a strong engagement with workers’ movements, and years of steady work within the party and civic institutions. His passing marks the end of a long chapter in Kannur’s local political history.
