THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “I don’t keep anything pending these days. I’m in a last-minute rush to finish off whatever I’ve committed to,” Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had told TNIE after the ‘Express Dialogues’ on June 15. He was running a high fever then. An approachable leader and a crisis manager, Kodiyeri, who passed away on Saturday in Chennai, was always the smiling face of the Kerala CPM. Calm, composed and clear, he was the binding force that kept the CPM together during its transition phase in the state. Acommitted CPM man from top to toe, the CPM Politburo member and three-time state secretary never shied away from any responsibility his party entrusted him.
Undoubtedly, the Kerala CPM owes a great deal to Kodiyeri for what it is today. An affable leader, he was the one who always handled the dissenting voices and factional issues that once plagued the party. At the peak of the factional feud, Kodiyeri functioned as the link between the two warring chieftains - V S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan.
Even while continuing as the trusted lieutenant of Pinarayi, Kodiyeri surprisingly shared an excellent rapport with VS too. During the VS government’s tenure from 2006 to 2011, Kodiyeri had mastered the fine act of balancing between the party and the CM, especially after VS was removed from the Politburo.
“It was Kodiyeri who used to intervene for other ministers too. He would go and sit with VS for long, talk to him about issues, and get things done for others. While many of us were reluctant to do so, Kodiyeri was always willing to walk that extra mile. He did a remarkable job,” recalled a former leader. Later in his capacity as the CPM state secretary, Kodiyeri acted as the bridge between the party and the government under Pinarayi. He succeeded in ensuring that the party and the government always remained on the same page. Their long stint together for several decades enabled Kodiyeri and Pinarayi to read each other’s mind accurately and work in tandem.
Kodiyeri had proved his mettle as an efficient Home minister in VS government. Many feel that he would have made a good chief minister. He used to get into the nitty-gritties of Home affairs, and used to excel in addressing such issues.
A composed leader, he was a very effective crisis manager too. In fact, it was Kodiyeri who virtually led the Opposition tactics inside the assembly during the last UDF government’s term. Sitting next to VS in the House, he used to chip in with spontaneous tit-for-tats, assembly management and guerilla tactics to silence the ruling front.
Kodiyeri was elegance personified at the time of crises. A few controversies surrounding his sons did cast a shadow on his political life for long. In a press briefing at the AKG Centre in the midst of such a controversy about his son in June 2019, Kodiyeri kept his cool while replying to a volley of media queries. “As the CPM secretary, I won’t go out of my way to protect him. Neither my party nor I will protect him. He is an adult, and is responsible for his actions,” he had said.
The steely nerves Kodiyeri displayed while facing life threatening illness head-on speaks volumes of the comrade he was. The cancer per se was never a worry. In fact even during treatment, most of his concerns revolved around fulfilling party commitments. He even went to the extent of missing a chemo cycle during the last party Congress. As Pinarayi rightly pointed out, for Kodiyeri, the party always came first.
FUNERAL ON MONDAY
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s body will be brought to the Thalassery Town Hall and will be kept there for the entire day on Sunday for the public to pay homage. Later, the body will be taken to his house at Kodiyeri Madapeedika and kept there till 10am on Monday. The body will be kept at CPM district committee office in Kannur from 11am. The funeral will be held at the Payyambalam Beach at 3pm. Mahe, Thalassery, Dharmadam and Kannur constituencies will observe hartal on Monday, as a mark of respect to Kodiyeri.