THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When curtains go up on the CPM’s 23rd party congress in Kannur on Wednesday, the glaring absence of veteran comrade VS Achuthanandan would be felt the most. The 98-year-old leader has not missed a single party congress since the party’s inception. Achuthanandan will miss the Kannur congress owing to ill-health. The 22nd party congress in Hyderabad in 2018 had honoured VS, the only founding member of the party alive.
VS was inducted into the party politburo in 1985 at the 12th party congress held in Kolkata, and went on to be part of the PB for 24 long years. Though he was elected to the PB during the 19th party congress held in Coimbatore in 2008, VS along with Pinarayi Vijayan was suspended from the body later for factional activities. VS was then the chief minister while Pinarayi was the party state secretary.
Though Pinarayi’s suspension was revoked later, VS was removed from the politburo in June 2009. He had never made it to the top decision-making body since then.
Pinarayi was first elected to the politburo in 2002, at the 17th party congress in Hyderabad. This time around, though he has crossed the upper age limit of 75 years, Pinarayi would most probably be granted exemption as he is the Kerala chief minister. Though he’s not physically attending the party congress, VS has been closely following all reports related to the conference, said family sources.
The 23rd party congress will mark the culmination of yet another long political innings. S Ramachandran Pillai, who has been part of the CPM politburo for 30 long years, too is all set to exit the top decision-making body. Widely known as SRP in political circles, Pillai became a politburo member in 1992, along with Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat.
Though being outside the organisational structure, SRP says he will now be more active in politics, albeit in a different way. The focus will be on party education and campaigning in a bid to propound the party ideology among the masses. “Those crossing the upper age limit of 75 years will move out of party committees, but will be active in other areas. Instead of being engaged with committees, I will now focus more on creating awareness among the people on party ideology and in strengthening party education,” SRP told TNIE.
Though he was inducted into the PB in 1992, SRP has been attending PB meetings since 1989. When the Thiruvananthapuram party congress formed a central secretariat in 1989, SRP along with Karat, Yechury, P Ramachandran and Sunil Matira were part of the central secretariat. The secretariat members used to attend politburo meetings too. It was some kind of a training to induct a new generation into the leadership. Interestingly, all five made it to the PB by the next party Congress held in Madras in 1992.
For most of his career, SRP has worked with the party centre in Delhi. He will now fully concentrate on Kerala. The attempt is to impart party education through institutions like the EMS Study Centre.
“These days, political education among the people is almost zilch. It’s important to ensure that the people are politically educated so that they will be able to have a clear perspective and analyse each and every political development. Such mass education is essential.
Since the 1960s, there has been political education favouring the right wing going on in the state. It was aimed at preventing the growth of the Left. It was done by Congress and the BJP along with religious and community outfits. This has in turn given rise to unscientific thinking and a superstitious mindset. It’s essential to make the Kerala society a science-driven community. And that’s definitely a major task,” he said.
Three decades in the politburo allowed SRP to see in person the rise and fall of the Left. “Social progress need not be always an upward move. It’s full of ups and downs. It’s the same for all political parties. If you learn your lessons during the low tides, you’ll be able to overcome the setbacks. The CPM, as a party, is confident of learning its lessons and bouncing back,” asserts SRP. Though SRP will move out of PB, he would most probably be made a permanent invitee to the party central committee.
Decades of service
VS was inducted into the party politburo in 1985 at the 12th party congress held in Kolkata, and went on to be part of the PB for 24 long years. He was removed from the politburo in June 2009 and never made it back since then. S Ramachandran Pillai, widely known as SRP in political circles, became a politburo member in 1992, along with Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat.