Koyilandy MLA Kanathil Jameela passes away

Kanathil Jameela, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] MLA for Koyilandy, passed away here on Saturday night. She was 59. Ms. Jameela had not been keeping well for some time. The death happened at a private hospital in Kozhikode city where she was undergoing treatment. Ms. Jameela, a resident of Thalakkulathur, was survived by her husband, Kanathil Abdurahman, son Ayreej and daughter Anooja.

She was born on May 5, 1966, at Kuttiyadi in the district. Her first brush with politics came when Ms. Jameela contested a school parliament election against a candidate of the Kerala Students Union at Government High School, Kuttiyadi. Though she lost the battle, Ms. Jameela was successful when she fought her first election to the Thalakkulathur grama panchayat in 1995. Despite having no prior administrative experience, she was chosen as the president of the panchayat as well. In the early 90s, she had worked as a literacy mission worker.

Between 2000 and 2005, she was the chairperson of the standing committee on welfare in the panchayat. In the 2005-10 period, she served as the president of the Chelannur block panchayat. After the 2010 election, she was elected as the president of the Kozhikode district panchayat.

Snehasparsham, a scheme to ensure financial help for kidney patients, a special project for cancer detection among women, Kozhikode Animal Rehabilitation Project Using Non-Violent Alternatives (KARUNA) to end stray dog menace, a mission mode project to make the State zero-landless, and schemes for sports promotion and education empowerment, were taken up during her tenure.  

Ms. Jameela had been a district committee member of the CPI(M). She was also the State vice-president of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association.

Though she was elected again as the Kozhikode district panchayat president in 2020, Ms. Jameela resigned from the post after winning the Assembly polls held a year later. In the 2021 election, she won from the Koyilandy constituency against the United Democratic Front’s N. Subramanian by a majority of 8,472 votes.