With the demise of Kerala Congress leader KM Mani, an era has come to an end in the politics of the state. AdvertisingKM Mani represented the Pala constituency in the Kerala Assembly continuously since 1965, and his name was synonymous to Pala’s. Everyone in Pala knew ‘Mani Sir’ — a name his people gave him and which he adopted, referring to himself in the third person as Mani Sir. Mani’s Kerala Congress depends largely on Christian votes, and its support base extended to the Malabar region, where Christians from central Travancore migrated, seeking livelihoods in the rubber plantations. Mani, who started his career in the Congress but formed the Kerala Congress in 1964, was the perfect example of the ‘coalition politician’.

Source: Indian Express April 09, 2019 15:22 UTC