Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan condoles demise of E Ahamed

New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday condoled the demise of MP and IUML leader E Ahamed, saying he always upheld secular values.

"Demise of E Ahamed is a great loss not only to his party and to his family but for the society as a whole. With great grief, I join his family in their sorrow," Vijayan said in a Facebook post.

The Kerala CM lauded the late leader's efforts as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and said that he had held the country's name high in the international arena.

"As a member representing India in the UN General Assembly, he was able to uphold the country's interest among world nations," the CM said.

"Ahamed, who had held the reins in Railway and Human Resource Ministries, was a great Parliamentarian too," Vijayan remembered.

78-year-old Ahamed passed away in the wee hours today at RML Hospital here.

The MP, from Kerala's Malappuram constituency, suffered a cardiac arrest during the President's address to the joint sitting of Parliament yesterday.

Ahamed's body will be taken to Kerala later today.