A skilled organiser and persuasive speaker with a deep sense of humour, he rose steadily in the organisational structure and was elected to the assembly in the 1957 polls, which voted undivided CPI to power, for the first time through ballot.
When CPI split in 1964, he remained with it and played a prominent role in building the party as a force to reckon resisting ideological and organisational challenges posed by CPI(M).
By 1971 he became a member of CPI's national council and had been part of the topmost national committees of the party since then.
He served as CPI state secretary from 1998 to 2010 before voluntarily stepping down from the post citing poor health.
