Thousands bid farewell to `Leader`

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 24 (PTI) Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi and thousands of people on Friday paid their last
respects to veteran Congress leader and former Kerala Chief
Minister K Karunakaran here, before his final journey to
political home Thrissur, where his mortal remains would be
cremated on Saturday.
Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram flew in from
Delhi to pay their homage to Karunakaran as the body lying in
state at the KPCC headquarters, Indira Bhavan here.
Gandhi laid a wreath, stood for a minute with folded
hands before the body and conveyed condolences to
Karunakaran's son K Muraleedharan and daughter Padmaja
Venugopal, both of them politicians.
Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajans were played in the
background as the body of the 93-year leader, who died
on Thursday, draped in Congress flag was kept in a glass
casket for the people to pay their homage to the state's
stalwart whose political career spanned over seven decades.
Later, the mortal remains were kept at the historic
Durbar hall at the government secretariat where Chief Minister
V S Achuthanandan, his colleagues, leaders of various
political parties, including CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi
Vijayan, paid floral tributes to the departed leader.
Religious leaders, including senior Bishops, writers and
artistes, also turned up to pay their last respects to the
leader, who straddled the state's political scene as a
colossus for nearly five decades.
Thousands drawn from different walks of life queued up to
have a last glimpse of the `leader' as he was called by
friends and foes alike.
Right from early hours, mourners kept a steady stream to
`Kalyani,' the residence of Karunakaran, who ruled the state
as chief minster four times leaving a legacy of his own.
In the afternoon, the flower-decked cortege set out to
Thrissur in central Kerala with people thronging the waysides
to express their love and affection to the veteran leader.
Karunakaran's son and former KPCC president K
Muraleedharan, daughter Padmaja Venugopal, close relatives and
Congress leaders are accompanying the funeral procession.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to attend the
funeral at the compound of his house `Murali Mandiram' at
Poonkunnam in Thrissur where the mortal remains of his wife
Kalyanikkutty Amma were cremated 15 years ago.
Arrangements have been made in major towns on the way for
the people to pay homage.
Defence Minister A K Antony, Maharashtra Governor K
Sankaranarayanan, Union Ministers Veerappa Moily, Vayalar
Ravi, G K Vasan and Mullappally Ramachandran were among the
dignitaries who paid their homage to Karunakaran. PTI