Veteran Kerala BJP leader Adv. K. Ayyappan Pillai (107) had passed away in Thiruvananthapuram on January 5, 2022, due to cardiac ailments. Pillai was a well-known freedom fighter and the oldest living lawyer in the country’s bar council. He started practice in the Supreme Court of India in 1954.
He was arrested in 1940, thanks to his deep and active involvement in the freedom struggle and was the first councillor in Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. In 1977, Pillai joined Janata Party and worked for its candidates during the March elections to Lok Sabha and Kerala assembly. He was the state vice president of Kerala BJP since its very inception in 1980 and remained in that position until 1987. He later worked as state treasurer of the party for ten consecutive years. Later on, he worked as the State Disciplinary Committee Chairman and State Election Committee Convener of the Party. He was the office bearer of Chinmaya Mission and Gandhi Peace Foundation. In 1947, during the last innings of the Travancore kingdom, he was the de facto advisor of the king and the Travancore State Congress leader Pattom Thanu Pillai.
Adv. Ayyappan Pillai used to go out for programmes until recently. During the lockdown period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him to enquire about his health. Adv. Pillai had worked with Modi during Dr Murli Manohar Joshi’s Ekta Yatra kickoff from Kanyakumari to Jammu. Modi was the captain of that legendary odyssey.
