Kodiyeri Balakrishnan: The smiling face of CPM

Kerala CPM’s smiling face is no more. Senior CPM leader and politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan passed away at Apollo Hospital in Chennai on Saturday.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan with his family members.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala CPM’s smiling face is no more. Senior CPM leader and politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan passed away at Apollo Hospital in Chennai on Saturday. He was 68.A five-time MLA, he had also served as the state home minister from 2006 to 2011. A three-time CPM state secretary, he served in that capacity till the last week of August this year.

Kodiyeri had been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital for the past one month. Born on November 16, 1953, he completed his studies at Kodiyeri Oniyan High School, Mahatma Gandhi College, Mahe and University College, Thiruvananthapuram. At the age of 17, he joined politics as a CPM member. An active leader of Kerala Students’ Federation, he served as the SFI state secretary and later as its all-India joint secretary between 1973 and 1979.

Kodiyeri had a meteoric rise in the party since his term as the students’ federation secretary. The Emergency period was a crucial episode in his political life when he underwent 16 months of imprisonment under MISA during 1975-1977. He was elected the Kannur district president of DYFI in 1980. The same year, he married daughter of then Thalassery MLA M V Rajagopalan.

He got elected to the assembly from Thalassery constituency in 1982, 1987, 2001, 2006 and 2011.In an interesting political development, CPM veteran and then chief minister Achuthanandan was dropped from the politburo in 2009, making it a curious proposition for the party leadership in the state. At a time when the CPM was struggling to deal with factional feuds between the VS and Pinarayi groups, Kodiyeri remained the one leader acceptable to both factions.

With Pinarayi Vijayan completing his term as the party state secretary in 2015, Kodiyeri was unanimously elected the CPM state secretary at the Alappuzha conference. Later, he got re-elected at the successive state conferences in 2018 and 2022.

A couple of controversies surrounding his two children, Bineesh Kodiyeri and Binoy Kodiyeri, did, however, cast a shadow over his long political life. Kodiyeri’s wife is Vinodini Balakrishnan and children Binoy Balakrishnan and Bineesh Balakrishnan

CM TO LEAVE FOR KANNUR TODAY

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will leave for Kannur on Sunday morning to pay homage to Kodiyeri. Initially there were reports that Pinarayi would fly to Chennai on Saturday evening to make arrangements for Kodiyeri’s body to be brought to Kannur by air ambulance. Pinarayi was originally scheduled to fly to Finland on Saturday evening, which was postponed due to the deteriorating health of Kodiyeri.

BORN: 16-11-1953

an unyielding personality

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was an unyielding personality and was even jailed under MISA during the Emergency in 1975. My heartfelt condolences to his family and CPM comrades
— M K Stalin, TN Chief Minister

A formidable communist

Kodiyeri was a formidable communist leader. He always stood for Left unity and strides of the Left movement and also played a crucial role. He was a role model to all public servants and also proved his mettle as an excellent ruler
— D Raja, CPI general secretary

VS in tears

V S Achuthanandan’s eyes welled up with tears on hearing about Kodiyeri’s demise, his son Arunkumar said. The veteran asked Arun to convey his condolences.

Man with unparalleled leadership skills

K Radhakrishnan
It was February 25, 2018, the last day of the party state conference held in Thrissur. The state conference was a grand success and I went to Kodiyeri’s room at Ramanilayam around midnight. He was preparing to leave for Kannur. When I entered the room he ran to me, grabbed my hands and said you have done an excellent work. That was the biggest quality of Comrade Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. He used to appreciate and acknowledge party workers. He was my guide and mentor. He has always been a source of inspiration for me. I was closely associated with Kodiyeri as a member of the Kerala Assembly. When he served as Opposition deputy leader I served as chief whip. During his term as home minister I was Assembly speaker. He was a trouble-shooter for the party and he guided the party with calm during hard times. He played a key role in building the party in Kerala. Kodiyeri had the ability to spot talented youngsters in the party and groom them. He had clarity of vision about the party’s stand on each issue. He had unparalleled leadership skills. Personally he had great affection towards me. His demise is a big loss to the party and the state.
(The author is Minister for SC/ST Welfare and Devaswom)