Senior CPI(M) leader and party's former Kerala state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan passed away at a hospital in Chennai on Saturday night. He was 68.

Balakrishnan, a member of the CPI(M) politburo, had been under treatment for cancer at Apollo hospital in Chennai since August 28.

He had served as the state home minister in the V.S. Achuthanandan government from 2006 to 2011.

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