I still remember that evening in 1971, when I met swami (Comrade E. Balanandan) for clearing a confusion in my mind. I was asked to choose either politics or profession by the then Managing director of FACT, M.K.K.Nair. I requested him 24 hours for giving a reply. What had irked M.K.K.Nair was my decision to choose the district presidentship
of KSYF. ``You are working here as an officer. It is not proper on your part to take up political assignments,’’ Nair told me. When I conveyed my dilemma to Balanandan, who had been a trade union leader in the FACT, he had no confusion at all. ``Quit the job and continue as KSYF office-bearer,’’ he told me spontaneously.
For me too, there was no need for a second thought. As I had known Balanandan since my childhood and was confident that he would never commit a mistake, I immediately wrote my resignation letter and submitted it to M.K.K.Nair. Later, when I cleared the PSC test and got appointed as engineer in the KSEB, Balanandan was the president of CITU-sponsored union there. He chose me as one of the secretaries even though I was a junior engineer.
Another striking memory in my mind is the 1978 KSEB strike, which had earned the infamy of being labelled the `sabotage strike.’ At that time PKV and K.Karunakaran were suppressing all strikes organised in Kerala. The strikes by NGO union were defeated twice. When we planned a strike, the CPM secretariat was against it. But, Balanandan single-handedly took up the responsibility and decided to lead the strike.
I can say without a pinch of doubt that it was Balanandan’s dedication and shrewd tactics that made the 58-day-long strike a success. It had catapulted him as a national-level trade union leader.
I also had the fortune to work with him in the Committee that looked into the modifications to be brought about in the KSEB in 1996. His far-sighted vision and perfect common sense was visible during the debate. The committee submitted a detailed report on how to make maximum use of the potential of our existing power stations. But, soon after receiving our report, then Chief Minister E.K.Nayanar and Electricity Minister Pinarayi Vijayan left for Canada for conducting negotiations with SNC-Lavalin. Balanandan was cent percent optimistic that our own engineers could do miracles in the existing hydro-electric projects. The public sector company BHEL was ready to provide technical assistance if needed.
When I decided to part ways with the party, he tried to dissuade. he asked me to wait a little more on several occasions. But, I could not. When I met him last, Sarojini Balanandan was insisting to drink plenty of water as suggested by doctors. ``She is speaking theory. If I obey it or not, there will be a difference of only 24 hours,’’ he said as if he had foreseen the entry of death. (The author is a former CITU national secretary and the state secretary of Marxist Communist Party of India (United).