VS Achuthanandan's fight begins and ends in Alappuzha
For Leftists, this is where their comrades - right from legendary P Krishna Pillai to K R Gouri - have been laid to rest. On Wednesday, Valiya Chudukadu stood witness to the eternal rest of one of the most influential mass leaders of Kerala's Communist movement - Comrade V S Achuthanandan.
VS, who was part of the Punnapra-Vayalar revolt, had been a regular here every year till 2019, arriving on the seventh of the Malayalam month of Thulam. The late leader truly embodied the spirit of the Punnapra revolt within. It had its reflection not just in the bayonet-pierced wound on his leg, but was also deeply etched in the Communist ideals he upheld all through his life.
One of the few comrades handpicked by Krishna Pillai, VS maintained the same revolutionary fervour till the very end. An ideological hardliner and stickler for party norms for most of his life, VS undoubtedly drew inspiration from the bitter personal struggles he had to undergo at a very young age.
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