His condition turned critical yesterday and he was put on ventilator support after suffering a stroke. Karunakaran was admitted to the hospital with severe breathing problem and fever on December 10.He was born on July 5, 1918 in Kannur and began his political innings as a freedom fighter and trade union leader. The veteran leader was one of the founding members of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in 1947.
He was elected seven times consecutively to the Kerala Legislative Assembly since 1967 and served as Chief Minister of Kerala four times -- 1977-78, 1981-1982, 1982-1987 and 1991-1995.He also served as Union Industries Minister in Narasimha Rao Government from 1995-96.
In 2005 Karunakaran floated a new party called Democratic Indira Congress saying he and his son K Muraleedharan were being sidelined by the Congress leadership. However, in 2006, the party merged with NCP and Karunakaran returned to Congress in 2008.VIDEO