P. Kannan, former Puducherry MP passes away

Former MP, Speaker & Minister P. Kannan passed away at 74 after suffering from viral pneumonia & chronic lung disease. He had a long political career, starting in Indian Youth Congress, & held key positions in Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee & Home Minister of UT.

PUDUCHERRY Former Puducherry Member of Parliament, Speaker and Minister P. Kannan died at a private hospital on November 5 night. He was 74 and is survived by his wife, daughter, and son. 

East Coast Hospital, where he was admitted with low blood pressure and respiratory illness on November 1, in a release said Kannan died at 9:51 p.m. on November 5 following severe viral pneumonia.

He was suffering from chronic lung disease for more than half a decade, the hospital said. 

Kannan started his political career in the Indian Youth Congress. 

He held key positions in the Youth Congress, and Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee and went on to become Home Minister of the UT. 

He was also the Speaker of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly for a brief period. He quit Congress over differences with the local leadership of the party and joined the Tamil Manila Congress floated by the late G.K. Moopanar in 1996. 

After a few years, he merged the TMC faction of Puducherry with Congress but broke away from his parent party again in 2001 and floated the Puducherry Makkal Congress.