Kollam (Kerala), Jan 29: Former All-India General Secretary of Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Baby John passed away at a hospital here on Tuesday. He was 88.

John was suffering from a prolonged illness, and is survived by his wife Annamma, two sons and a daughter.

Famously known as ''Kerala Kissinger'', John was a key figure in the coalition politics of Kerala for several decades.

He had severed as minister handling different portfolios in coalition governments led by the C Achutha Menon, K Karunakaran, A K Antony, E K Nayanar and P K Vasudevan Nair.

In mid 1990s, he suffered a stroke when he was serving as Irrigation Minister in the E K Nayanar Ministry. Since then he had been confined to his home.

John was born in the coastal hamlet of Chavara in Kerala's Kollam District in 1920. He was the son of Sebastian John and Mary John.
(ANI)