E. Balanandan

Who was E. Balanandan?

E. Balanandan was a communist politician from the Kerala State of India. He had been a member of the Communist Party of India's politburo since 1978. Born in Sakthikulangara, Kollam District, he was the son of Raman and Eswary Balandan.

Balanandan initiated his political career in the Indian National Congress, but he later joined the Communist Party of India in 1943, and then the CPI in 1964.

From 1967 to 1977, he was a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. In 1980, he was elected for a four-year term to the 7th Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament from Mukundapuram constituency. He was elected to the upper house, Rajya Sabha twice in 1988 and 1994.

Balanandan was the President of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and of the Electricity Employees' Federation of India.

Balanandan died on January 19, 2009 at a private hospital in Kochi in Kerala, where he was admitted due to respiratory illness. He had suffered from lung cancer for some time.