ALAPPUZHA: Veteran politician KR Gouri Amma will complete 101 years on Tuesday. She was a minister in the first democratically elected LDF Government of 1957. She will celebrate her birthday without any gathering at Kalathilparambil house at Chathanattu in Alappuzha municipality on Tuesday.
Her birth centenary was celebrated last year with much fanfare and many political leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had participated in it. However, this time there will not be any celebration owing to Covid pandemic, said Prof PC Beenakumari, niece of Gouri and state general secretary of JSS women’s wing.
Gouri was born on July 14, 1919. However, the birthday is celebrated based on the Malayalam horoscope and star ‘Thiruvonam’ in ‘Midhunam’, which falls on Tuesday, Beenakumari said. Gouri was born to K A Raman and Parvathi Amma as their seventh daughter in Pattanakad village in Alappuzha. She attended schools at Thuravoor and Cherthala and completed graduation from Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam. She also completed law degree from Government Law College, Ernakulam. She was a minister in the Communist-led ministries in Kerala in 1957, 1967, 1980, and 1987 and also became a minister in the Congress-led Cabinet from 2001 to 2006.
Under the influence of elder brother and trade union leader Sukumaran, she entered politics at a time when women hardly found a place in politics. She was elected to the Travancore Legislative Assembly in 1952 and 1954 with an overwhelming majority. She became revenue minister in the first Communist ministry in 1957. She married T V Thomas, also a minister in the EMS ministry. After the split in Communist party in 1964, Gouri joined the newly formed Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM).
However, her husband Thomas, stood with the Communist Party of India (CPI). This created fissures in their relationship and soon they parted ways. In 1994 she was expelled from CPM on charges of anti-party activities. Following this, she established a new political party JSS. JSS later joined the UDF and Gouri became minister of agriculture in the A K Antony and Oommen Chandy ministries. In 2016, she severed relations with the UDF. Thereafter, she remained a supporter of the LDF.