Thiruvananthapuram: A Charles, senior Congress leader and the only person to win thrice from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, died Sunday morning at a private hospital.
He was 84 and was suffering from age related health issues for a while.
Hailing from the powerful Nadar community in the capital district, Charles with no political background was handpicked by K Karunakaran to contest the 1984 Lok Sabha polls.
He controlled the affairs of the Congress party in the state in the `80s and `90s.
Charles worked at the state Public Service Commission here and later became its member. After that, he entered full-time politics to contest the 1984 polls.
Charles then won the 1989 and the 1991 polls, but in the 1996 elections, he lost and since then was keeping a low profile in Congress politics.
The funeral will take place here Monday.