Latest news with #VelikkakathuSankaranAchuthanandan
New Indian Express
24-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
VS Achuthanandan's politics was not poetry, but provocative prose
Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, alias V S Achuthanandan, or better VS, was a communist who did not belong to the selfie culture. Instead he chose to look at the eyes, faces and needs of those around him. He was a communist at a time when many of his colleagues were becoming consumerists. One might disagree with the tactics and the strategies he had adopted in pursuing his goals, but nobody could challenge his clean political image and sincerity towards the issues and causes he had espoused. Achuthanandan was a leader who carried with him his own notion of communism, a notion based on his own personal experiences. He never imagined things, but saw through them; never talked merely about things, but their meaning; never spoke in the language of the market, but that of life; never spoke like a book, but with conviction. Like Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland, when he used a word, he meant what he chose to mean, neither less nor more. This was clear from the way in which he practised the art of politics, intervening on issues which touched the quotidian concerns of the people, whether corruption, atrocities against women, environmental issues, communalism, or nuclear and tribal questions.
Time of India
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Red crusader and the last of CPM's founders: Ex-CM of Kerala VS Achuthanandan dies at 101
VS Achuthanandan THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A singular chapter of Kerala 's red history turned its last page Monday. Former CM Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan - firebrand Marxist, CPM 's founding member, and Kerala's conscience-keeper - died aged 101 in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram at 3.20pm after 28 days on life support. VS, as he was known across political aisles, was hospitalised after a heart attack on June 23. Trusted comrades stayed by his side to the end. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan rushed in for a final glimpse. Funeral will be held Wednesday evening in Alappuzha. Public homage begins Monday evening at AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, continues Tuesday at Secretariat Durbar Hall, and concludes at Alappuzha Town Hall. Born on Oct 20, 1923, in Alappuzha to Velikkakathu Sankaran and Akkamma, he lost his mother at four and father at 11. Hunger cut short school at Class 7. The "chovan" (Ezhava) boy faced casteist jeers, but his resolve only hardened. At 21, he was organising Kuttanad farm workers. By 1940, he joined Communist Party. Jail, underground life, resistance - his early life reads like Kerala's own left-wing chronicle. Achuthanandan became CPM state secretary (1980-92), was elected to the assembly four times, and led the state as CM from 2006 to 2011 - the first working-class communist in India to do so. He twice served as opposition leader, and his loss at Mararikulam in 1996 polls shocked even his critics. His brand of politics was not of quiet obedience. He challenged CPM brass, openly taking on party honchos he dubbed "crafty revisionists". His feud with Pinarayi cost him a politburo seat. Yet he never broke from the party. He led anti-corruption crusades, exposed sex scandals involving ministers and film stars, and sent former minister R Balakrishna Pillai to jail. A green activist before the phrase existed, he battled land grab and paddy reclamation. Even in his 90s, he hired a tutor to learn Hindi after being named administrative reforms panel chief. Supporters called him the soul of CPM. With his passing, the last of the founding reds was gone.
The Hindu
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
V.S. Achuthanandan: a mass leader moulded by Alappuzha
It was a long journey from Punnapra village in Alappuzha district of Kerala to the corridors of power in Thiruvananthapuram, and from Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan to 'Comrade VS'. Mr. Achuthanandan, fondly called 'VS' by the masses, lived a full life marked by struggles, victories and a few setbacks. For him, Alappuzha was not merely his birthplace, but the crucible of resistance from where he rose — as a labourer, trade unionist, revolutionary, freedom fighter, and politician. It shaped him into one of the preeminent communist leaders and laid the foundation for his emergence as a values-based mass political leader in Kerala. Mr. Achuthanandan lost his mother at the age of four and his father by eleven. He dropped out of school in Class VII and joined a tailoring shop run by his elder brother, Gangadharan. A few years later, he became a worker at Aspinwall Coir Factory, meshing coir – an experience that would prove transformative. The young Achuthanandan showed early signs of leadership by organising fellow labourers at the factory. In 1940, while working at the factory, he joined the Travancore State Congress. That same year, driven by a desire to fight for the rights of workers and peasants, he joined the Communist Party at the age of 17. Soon after, he was assigned by party leader P. Krishna Pillai to Kuttanad for political activity. There, in a region plagued by a semi-feudal agrarian system and deep caste prejudices, he began organising agricultural labourers. Under the aegis of the Travancore Karshaka Thozhilali Union, founded in the 1940s by the Communist Party of India, workers waged a series of bold struggles for basic rights, better working conditions, and higher wages — often in the face of brutal repression by landlords and the police. His time in Kuttanad cemented his status as a trade union leader. These labour struggles, along with the land reforms that followed, helped transform adiyans (labourers) into a new political class that would become the backbone of the Communist Party in the later years. Working-class leader Alappuzha was also the stage for Mr. Achuthanandan's next significant chapter as a working-class leader in 1946. At the time, dissent was growing against the Maharaja of Travancore and his Diwan C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, who were toying with the idea of keeping Travancore as an independent State outside the Indian Union, modelled on the American presidential system. The Communist Party strongly opposed the move and Mr. Achuthanandan was tasked with organising resistance. Drawing on his influence among workers across the region, Mr. Achuthanandan played a key role in rallying labourers for what would become a massive uprising. Armed only with areca nut staves and choppers, they fought courageously against government forces equipped with guns. Hundreds lost their lives between October 23 and 27, 1946 in what would come to be known as the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising — a defining moment in Kerala's communist movement. He was arrested on October 28 and was subjected to severe torture in the lockup at Poonjar. He was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the uprising. He had spent a total of five years and eight months in jail and lived underground for four-and-a-half years during the course of his political life. 'Mr. Achuthanandan came from a humble background and his early life was filled with struggle. He spent a good part of his life in Alappuzha as a trade union leader, organiser of coir and agricultural workers, and a leader of the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising. He entered politics by participating in the freedom struggle. It was from Alappuzha that he began his parliamentary politics in 1965. In 1957, he was the district secretary of the Communist Party in Alappuzha — the party had recognised it as a district but the revenue district was formed later that year — when the first-ever elections to the Kerala Assembly was held. VS, who was in-charge of elections for the Communist Party in Alappuzha, was able to get most number of communist representatives elected to the Assembly that year,' says P. Jayanath, a senior journalist and author of a biography on Mr. Achuthanandan. Mass movements In 1970's and 1980's, Kerala witnessed the land grab agitation and anti-reclamation stir. Mr. Achuthanandan spearheaded the struggles from Alappuzha by launching the anti-reclamation stir against the conversion of paddy fields. His mettle to organise mass movements anchored from Alappuzha solidified his image as a leader with pan-Kerala appeal. However, his deep political ties to Alappuzha met an abrupt end when he lost the 1996 Assembly election in the Mararikulam constituency. His defeat in Mararikulam was attributed to infighting in the Communist Party of India (Marxist). 'VS rose from the grassroots, but he was a hardliner too. In the 1996 elections, disillusioned CPI(M) activists voted for me,' P.J. Francis, who defeated him in Mararikulam, had told The Hindu in a 2021 interview. In the later years, the veteran communist took up a range of social and environmental issues across the State. Yet, it was in Alappuzha that his foundational struggles took place — struggles that not only changed his life but also transformed society around him. They remain forever etched in the annals of Kerala's political history.
The Hindu
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
V.S. Achuthanandan, not just a leader but a legacy
Kerala has bid farewell to its last idealist of communist politics. Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan — VS, as we all knew him — was more than just a leader. He was a living legend. Perhaps the last of the unblemished, unwavering icons of the communist movement. On the outside, he came across as stern, tough, and uncompromising. Harsh labels followed him — often not just from political rivals, but even from within his own party. The media, too, painted him in shades of rigidity. But those who truly knew him saw another VS — a man of rare affection, quiet care, disarming warmth, and deep humanity. I was fortunate to witness this side of him, away from the headlines and public image. His name echoed through my childhood. Long before my political journey began as a Kerala Students Union worker at Chennithala, he had already become a household name —known across Kerala for his leadership during the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle. As a boy, I would listen to his speeches with rapt attention — the cadence, the humour, the language—it all captivated me. Once, I asked him about his unique style of oratory. He smiled and said: 'When I began in politics, we had no microphones or stage lights. We'd speak under oil lamps, using rhythm, humour, and pauses to hold the crowd. That's how it became my style — just a way to keep people listening and thinking.' Even today, his oratory remains unmatched in Kerala—difficult to replicate, impossible to forget. As an MP, I had more chances to meet him personally — often during chance travels on trains and flights. Those journeys became windows into the man behind the public figure. We stood on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Our debates were spirited, sometimes fierce. Yet there was always mutual respect. Despite political clashes, he treated me with affection and civility—and I returned the same. As Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, I met him often — in his roles as Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and as Chief Minister. Those conversations, even amid disagreement, only deepened our personal bond. Just recently, I visited SUT Hospital at Pattom to see him. I couldn't meet him, but spoke at length with his son, Arun Kumar, about his condition. Despite his rigid ideological stance, VS had a profound emotional depth. I remember especially the day T.P. Chandrasekharan was brutally murdered at Onchiyam. It was VS, the then Chief Minister, who visited his widow, K.K. Rema, and offered her solace. That one moment alone speaks volumes — challenging the image of him as unfeeling or distant. Now, a red star that illuminated Kerala's public life for nearly a century has dimmed. The space he leaves behind in our political conscience is vast. With his passing, Kerala has lost the last true reformist of the Left. With deep sorrow and abiding respect, I offer my tribute to the luminous memory of V.S. Achuthanandan. (writer is a permanent invitee to Congress Working Committee)
