MP Virender Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP and managing director of the leading Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi, died on Thursday in a private hospital.  He was 84 years old.  Former Union Minister Kumar will be cremated in Wayanad on Friday.

Kumar's wife Usha and children – Asha, Nisha, Jayalakshmi and M.V.  Shreyas Kumar was born on 22 July 1936 in Kalpetta, Wayanad, to a leader of the Samajwadi Party, Marudevi Ava and Padmaprabha Gaur.  He was also arrested during the Emergency.

During 1987–91, Kumar was elected a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly.  In 1996, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kozhikode constituency and served as the Minister of State (MoS) for Labor and later Finance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday mourned the death of MP Virendra Kumar, the Rajya Sabha member and managing director of prominent Malayalam daily Motherland.  He said that he believed in giving voice to the poor and the underprivileged.  Modi tweeted that I am saddened by the death of Rajya Sabha member MP Virendra Kumar.  Modi said, 'I convey my condolences to his family and well wishers.  om Shanti.'  Virendra Kumar was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1987.  He was also elected to the Lok Sabha twice.