Former minister E Ahamed’s funeral in Kannur on Thursday

KANNUR: The funeral of former union minister and senior IUML leader E Ahamed, who died in the early hours of Wednesday in Delhi following cardiac arrest, will be held in his native Kannur on Thursday.

According to party leadership, the body will be flown to Karipur airport on Wednesday afternoon and then to Kannur, probably by night, after keeping it in Kozhikode for the people to pay their homage.

Ahamed, who began his career as a journalist and then a lawyer, began his parliamentary politics in 1967, when he was elected as MLA from Kannur. Then there was no looking back and he served as MLA, MP, and even as union minister for two consecutive times in the UPA government, which brought him laurels as an expert in international relations.

Born in Kannur on April 29, 1938, as the son of O Abdul Khader Haji and E Nafeesa Beevi, Ahamed had his graduation from

Govt Brennen College

in Thalassery and then, obtained his law degree from the Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, after which he started his practice as lawyer in the district court in Thalassery.

The first major step in his political career was in 1958, when he became the first general secretary of the MSF when the State committee was formed at the meeting in Alappuzha. Though his political arena was Malappuram district from where he was elected to

Parliament

, he always maintained a deep relation with Kannur. In the municipal election in 1981, he contested and won the election to serve as the chairman of the

Kannur Municipal Council

till 1983.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, there was reservation in the IUML about his contesting from Malappuram owing to poor health condition. However, finally became the

UDF

candidate and gave a befitting reply to the opponents with a victory margin of 194739 votes.

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