India, Sept. 12 -- Veteran Congress leader and former Kerala minister PP Thankachan passed away at a private hospital in Ernakulam district on Thursday. He was 86.

Thankachan had been battling age-related illnesses for a few years and was admitted to the hospital on August 15 following a deterioration in his condition.

Thankachan, the son of a Jacobite priest and a homemaker, made his foray into politics through the Congress student and youth wings and fought his first election to the Perumbavoor municipality in 1963. He not only won the election, but became chairperson of the municipality, the youngest at the time.

A close confidante of K Karunakaran, Thankachan rose swiftly through the party ranks, becoming the district president of ...