Iconic Communist and former Chief Minister of Kerala VS Achuthanandan has passed away. He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the capital, following a cardiac attack on June 23rd morning. He was earlier incapacitated following a stroke in 2019.
A founding leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), VS Achuthanandan had turned 101 last October. VS was the last of the 32 leaders who walked out of the historical CPI national council meet in 1964 to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
VS began his political career as a trade unionist at the forefront of land struggles. He was also part of the now iconic Punnapra-Wayalar struggle. A former Chief Minister, VS was undoubtedly the CPM’s most popular leader in the state, evoking genuine affection among the masses right down to the grassroot levels.
Began by assisting brother at tailoring shop
Born on October 20, 1923 as the son of Sankaran and Akkamma, VS had a difficult childhood after losing his mother at the age of four. Initially, he assisted his brother at a tailoring shop, and subsequently a coir factory worker. Initiated into the state’s political movement by P Krishna Pillai, he started his early political life as a trade union activist in 1938, by organising agricultural workers at Kuttanadu.
He went on to become a member of the Travancore State Congress. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1940 and was later part of the undivided CPI state Secretariat in 1957. VS was also part of the country’s freedom struggle and underwent imprisonment many a time. During one such incarceration, the police had brutally pierced his soles with a bayonet at the Poonjar station lock-up. He spent around five-and-a-half years in prison and four years underground.
Legendary for his firm stance
VS was at the forefront of ‘land’ struggles, starting with the Alappuzha declaration in 1970 demanding implementation of the Land Reforms Act passed by the EMS Government in 1967.
In 1957, he became the CPI state secretariat member. On numerous occasions, he faced opposition and criticism from various corners for raising his voice against corrupt practices indulged in by fellow leaders. In 1962, during the Sino-Indian war, he was demoted within the party for supporting blood donation camps for Indian soldiers.
A long-term CPM state secretary (from 1980 to 1992), VS was legendary for his firm stance in dealing with issues — both inner-party and socio-political.
A Politburo member for almost three decades since 1985, he was dropped from the Politburo in 2009 while serving as the Chief Minister. He was also thrice Opposition leader and served as Chief Minister from 2006-11.
He was elected to the state Assembly in 1967, 1970, 1991, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. VS was hands-down the party’s most popular leader among the masses and was the main campaigner in the 2016 State Assembly polls that saw Pinarayi assuming the CM office for the first time.
He is survived by his wife K Vasumathy and two children VA Arunkumar and VV Asha.
The ‘comrade with an anti-party mindset’
Maintaining his own stance even at the cost of opposing the party, VS always had the image of a leader of the masses.
The Alappuzha strongman always had to bear the brunt of scores of disciplinary actions by the very party he helped form. Public censuring and demotion from the Politburo were just a few of the punitive actions that the centenarian had to face in the course of his long political career as an uncompromising Communist.
It was during the Indo-China war in 1964 that VS was first subjected to party disciplinary action. He was demoted from the Central Committee. He was warned in 1998 and suspended from the Politburo for factionalism in 2007. Though he was taken back keeping in mind his mass appeal, VS had to leave the Politburo again in 2009. This was followed by censuring by the Central Committee for his visit to Koodamkulam.
But what could be termed as the most drastic of the series of disciplinary actions initiated against him was the party resolution terming him a ‘comrade with an anti-party mindset’ on the eve of the 2015 Alappuzha conference. That such an open declaration was made in front of the media by none other than his bête noire Pinarayi Vijayan only served to further underline the extent to which the veteran was being isolated within the party itself.
Till a decade ago, the CPM witnessed bitter factional feuds between the factions led by VS and current Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In fact, it was the bitter fight between the two over the SNC Lavalin controversy involving Pinarayi that led to his demotion from the Politburo in 2009.
The 2011 Assembly elections stands testimony to VS’ mass appeal which forced the party to field him, following widespread protests from various corners for initially denying him a seat to contest.
The chances of the Communist Party seeing another popular giant like him are very slim.
