THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Veteran Congress leader K.P. Viswanathan, who was ailing for a while, passed away at a private hospital here on Friday morning. He was 83.

Viswanathan was one of the tallest Congress leaders in Kerala's Trissur, but had kept himself out of active politics for the past sometime.

A six-time legislator, Viswanathan, was also a minister in the cabinet of K. Karunakaran (1991-94) and in the Oommen Chandy cabinet of 2004-2005, when he had to resign over an adverse court verdict.

After losing the 2006 and 2011 Assembly polls, Viswanathan practically quit active politics.

A soft spoken leader, he rose to higher posts through his organisational work in the Congress party.