[1] Radhakrishnan was born in Varkala, a town around 40 km from Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala State in India, as the eldest of four sons of Vasudevan and Dakshayani.
His maternal grandfather, Manampur Govindan Asan, was a well known Sanskrit Scholar and contemporary of Sri Narayana Guru, the great social reformer who lived in Kerala during the 19th Century.
Radhakrishnan tasted electoral success in 1980, when he was elected to Kerala State Assembly from Varkala Constituency.
Radhakrishnan shifted his area of activity to the National Stage when he won the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) from Chirayinkil Constituency in 1998.
Radhakrishnan did not contest the elections in 2009 to the Lok Sabha, but continued to be actively involved in politics until his death.
He was a District Committee Member of the CPI(M) and was also President of All India Lawyers' Union (AILU) and a farmers' organisation affiliated to the party.
[1] Radhakrishnan died on 26 April 2010 aged 82, battling injuries he suffered in a road accident when he was on his regular morning walk four days earlier.