M P Veerendrakumar, member of Rajya Sabha and leader of Lok Tantrik Janata Dal breathed his last late Thursday night. The most colourful politician who never compromised on his stance against the Sangh Parivar and the kind of politics practiced by the BJP, was given a State funeral at the sprawling Puliyarmala Estate compound, his ancestral home in Wynadu district.

Veeran , as he was known, was 84 and is survived by his wife and four children. He was also the chairman and managing director of Mathrubhumi, a popular Malayalam daily and owned the satellite news channel by the same time.

The Rajya Sabha member, though shared power in the State in company of the Congress and the CPI(M), stood for socialism, secularism and liberalism in synch with the kind of education he received from abroad. Son of a planter by name Padmaprabha Gowder, Veeran is described as Raja by the people of Wynadu district. He was twice member of the Lok Sabha and a was a minister of state for company affairs in the government headed by Deve Gowda.

Author of more than a dozen books ranging from politics to ecology to spirituality, Veerendrakumar was instrumental in encouraging journalists to travel wide across the country as his mission to make the youth understand the nook and corner of India. He has won a number of honours like Sahitya academy award and “Vayalar Award”, Kerala’s highest literary prize.  Veerendrakumar had established through his book “Sorrow of Rama” that there ever existed any Ram temple in Ayodhya. “He stood for socialism and secularism and never could get along with the BJP and Sangh Parivar brand of politics. We will miss him very badly,” said Chioef Minister Vijayan, a long time friend  of the late parliamentarian.