THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A ‘political animal’ is how MP Veerendrakumar once described himself. Imbued with socialist leanings, he was inducted into active politics by none other than legendary socialist Jayaprakash Narayan. He was a leader known to steer a ‘Left of Centre’ political course with considerable success. ‘Veeran’, as he was popularly known, had — barring a couple of brief forays into the UDF fold — for most of his political life associated himself with the Left front.
It is no secret that he chose to part ways with the Left Democratic Front in 2009, after major differences with senior CPM leaders including Pinarayi Vijayan, over seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls. At the time as a Janta Dal (Secular) leader, he was one of the most respected Left leaders. Yet he chose to severe ties with the LDF with which he had been associated for well over two decades. The differences were so marked that Pinarayi, then CPM state secretary, had gone on to publicly advise ‘the rebels in Dal’ to seek refuge with the UDF. Veerendrakumar went on to form the Socialist Janata Democratic Party that merged with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U). He later joined the UDF.
It was perhaps a fallout of this bitter feud that the CPM and the LDF in Kerala fought tooth and nail to ensure Veeran’s defeat by over one lakh votes (as the UDF candidate) against the CPM’s M B Rajesh in the 2014 LS elections. Though he later became a Rajya Sabha MP on a UDF ticket, the alliance with the Congress-led front too didn’t turn out well. Veeran moved out of the alliance with the UDF a couple of years down the line.
Veerendrakumar’s stormy association with Pinarayi was keenly watched in political circles. In a way, the two leaders shared a love-hate relationship. The fact that Veeran at times supported the VS faction too may have contributed its bit to the tumult in their bickerings. The same Pinarayi who had once openly lashed out at Veeran, extended an olive branch to his political rival later. In 2006, while releasing Veeran’s book Irul Parakkunna Kalam, Pinarayi reminded the gathering that Socialists belong to the Left front, and that the masses would want to see Socialists on their side.
In what could be termed an open invitation, Pinarayi had said, “What needs to be corrected should be corrected, and what needs to be reconsidered should be reconsidered.” He went on to add that it was a misconception that Veeran and he were political foes. Later in 2018, Veeran parted ways with Nitish Kumar and later returned to the Left front and became a Rajya Sabha MP.
In his condolence message on Friday, Pinarayi described him as a politician who relentlessly fought communal and divisive forces till his last breath. Even while standing for development, he was at the forefront of the fight for the environment. Veerandrakumar was one of the few politicians in Kerala to be closely associated with several environmental struggles, the Plachimada anti-Coca Cola stir being one of them. As an MP, he was actively involved in drawing the nation’s attention to the Plachimada stir, said R Ajayan, convener, Plachimada Solidarity Council.
He even organised the World Water Conference which played a huge role in the authorities finally acknowledging that the local people have the right over natural resources in the region. “He was directly involved in a slew of environmental fights including the Plachimada stir, the Highway project and fight against sand mining,” recalled Ajayan. Though Kerala politics have witnessed the rise of several Janata Dal factions over the years, M P Veerendrakumar always stood out as the most revered of all socialist leaders the state has seen.