V.S. Achuthanandan, the quintessential Communist and champion of the masses, passes away

Former Kerala CM and veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader V.S. Achuthanandan breathed his last today at the Sree Uthradom Thirunal Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He was 101, and was admitted following a cardiac arrest on June 23. His blood pressure had dropped around 11am, and was on ventilator support and undergoing dialysis. Achuthanandan was confirmed dead at 3.20pm.

 

A towering figure in Kerala politics, Achuthanandan was battling age-related health problems in recent years and was away from public life following a stroke in 2019. He served as the Kerala chief minister from 2006 to 2011, and as the leader of the opposition in the assembly for a record 15 years over three terms in the 1990s and early 2000s.

 

A seven-time MLA, Achuthanandan contested 10 elections, losing only three.

 

VS, as he was popularly known, was the only surviving founding member of the CPI(M), which was formed in 1964 after the historic split in the undivided Communist party.

 

Early life and Communist beginnings

 

Born on October 20, 1923 in Punnapra, Alappuzha, Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan lost his parents early in life – mother at four, and father at 11. He dropped out of school while in class 7, and started doing odd jobs at tailoring shops and coir factories.

 

It was the legendary Communist leader, P. Krishna Pillai, who saw the spark in a young Achuthanandan, and sent him to Kuttanad to understand the problems of the farmers and work among them in the 1940s. Already a trade union leader, he mobilised the farmers and urged them to demand fair wages, and fought for their rights.

 

ALSO READ: How Punnapra-Vayalar uprising made V.S. Achuthanandan a staunch Communist

 

The popular Punnapra-Vayalar uprising in 1946, against the Travancore Diwan C.P. Ramaswami Iyer’s bid to self-rule, saw Achuthanandan taking an active role in mobilising the farmers. He was arrested in Poonjar and was subjected to custodial torture, which steeled his resolve to fight for the masses.

 

Rise in electoral politics

 

He worked his way up in the undivided Communist Party of India, from being the Alappuzha district secretary to a state committee member and to becoming a state secretariat member in 1957.

 

Achuthanandan was one of the 32 Communists who walked out of the CPI in 1964 to form the CPI(M). He was made the party’s state secretary in 1980 and became a member of the Polit Bureau (PB) in 1985.

 

He dabbled in electoral politics for the first time in 1965, contesting from the Ambalapuzha assembly constituency in Alappuzha. Though he lost by over 2,000 votes, he won back the seat two years later.

 

Despite a shocking defeat in Mararikulam constituency in 1996 – which is often attributed to factionalism within the party – Achuthanandan continued to be a crowd favourite and a champion of the masses.

 

ALSO READ: V.S. and the 'Vettinirathal' saga: How Achuthanandan singled-handedly decimated CITU lobby in CPIM's 1998 Palakkad conference

 

He was an active crusader against land-grabbing, encroachment and corruption, be it his famous trek Mathikettanshola to protest against forest encroachment, or the Edamalayar case, which resulted in the conviction of former minister R. Balakrishna Pillai, or his anti-encroachment drive in Munnar.

 

Achuthanandan’s stint as the Kerala chief minister saw the party consolidating its position among the weaker sections of the society, while making strides in the state’s IT infrastructure with the expansion of Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and the IT park in Kozhikode, and development of container transshipment terminal at Vallarpadam.

 

Known for his wit and for his hard stances on issues, which often was not in line with the party’s official stance, Achuthanandan had more admirers than haters. With his death, the party, state and the nation has lost one of their tallest political figures.

 

Kerala's opposition leader V.D. Satheeshan paid tribute to Achuthanandan, saying that he gave a new face to opposition politics.

 

"Whether in power or in opposition, V.S. always maintained the spirit of resistance. It often seemed like he relished being in the opposition, even while in power."

 

The Congress leader said that Achuthanandan stood at the forefront of struggles for environmental protection. "V.S. was an active participant in various agitations across Kerala, including the one against Coca-Cola, which sought to protect nature and resist water exploitation.

 

"In and outside the Assembly, V.S. wielded a sharp tongue. Not just his political opponents, even leaders from within his own party felt the sting of his words. He became Chief Minister after earning significant public support," said Satheeshan. 

India