Kerala Governor M O H Farook passed away at a hospital in Chennai on Thursday night at the age of 74 following a brief illness. He died at the Apollo Hospitals where he was undergoing treatment since last month for kidney and other ailments, his son and former Puducherry minister M O H F Shahjahan said.

Farook, a senior Congress leader and former Puducherry Chief Minister and MP, is survived by son and two daughters.

Farook was also the former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He was 75 years old. All government offices and schools will remain shut in Kerala on Friday.

He was sworn in as the 19th governor of Kerala last September, prior to which he had occupied the gubernatorial post in Jharkhand.

Farook had served as Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry thrice and was a Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism between 1991 and 1992.

He was elected to Lok Sabha for three terms from 1991 from Puducherry and had also served as Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.