V.K. Ebrahim Kunju, IUML leader and former Kerala Minister, passes away

V.K. Ebrahim Kunju, senior leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and former Kerala Minister for Public Works, died in Kochi on Tuesday (January 6, 2026). He was 73.

He had been undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, heart failure and chronic kidney disease for some time. The death occurred around 3.40 p.m at VPS Lakeshore Hospital where he was admitted on January 4, 2026 following health-related complications, according to hospital authorities.

A four-time member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Mr. Kunju had represented the Kalamassery constituency in Ernakulam from 2011 to 2021. He was the MLA of the then Mattancherry constituency from 2001 to 2011.

Born on May 20, 1952 at Kongorppilly near Aluva, he entered public life through the Muslim Students’ Federation and held leadership positions in the Muslim Youth League for long. He was active in various trade unions and organisations, including Swathanthra Thozilali Union at Eloor, TELK Technical Employees Association, Angamaly and Traco Cables Staff and Workers Organisation, Irumpanam, Ernakulam. He had served as director of the Cochin International Airport Limited and member of the Syndicate of the Cochin University of Science and Technology.

A close confidante of IUML leader P.K. Kunhalikutty and the Panakkad Thangal family, he was chosen as the party’s replacement after Mr. Kunhalikutty resigned from the post of Minister for Industries in January 2005 following the infamous Kozhikode ice cream parlour sex scandal case.

His career graph went up after he became the Minister for Public Works in the United Democratic Front (UDF) government in 2011. He had faced protests from party workers after the then Oommen Chandy ministry decided to fix the width of national highways in Kerala at 45 metres. Along with Mr. Chandy, he had been vocal about the infrastructure projects initiated during his tenure as the Minister for Public Works, including the completion of 227 bridges across the State at a total cost of about ₹1,600 crore.

Corruption charges

His political career faced a setback after the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested him in November 2020 on the charge of corruption in the construction of the decommissioned flyover bridge at Palarivattom in Kochi. The crux of the case against him was that he had advanced ₹9 crore to the builder ostensibly to expedite the work.

The reverberations of the controversy cost him dear as local IUML leaders in Kalamassery objected to his candidature in the 2021 Assembly polls. The party leadership came up with an alternative by fielding his son V.E. Abdul Gafoor as the candidate, though he had denied it was done on his request. He was not active in public forums afterwards due to his health condition.

He is survived by his wife, Nadeera, sons Abdul Gafoor, V.E. Abbas, and V.E. Anoob.