ALAPPUZHA: V S Achuthanadan and his Velikkakathu ancestral home, in Paravoor, Alappuzha, are treasured by people of the region, which has given rise to many revolutionary movements. He always stood for what he believed in and that has earned him respect and admiration across the political spectrum.
N P Vidhyanandan, a CPM leader from Paravoor, acknowledges his straightforward nature and genuineness. “Once I visited his house with a cousin to help him with his freedom fighters’ pension. I tried to introduce him, but VS clearly identified him. He agreed to help. We were about to leave when he asked for me. He told me never to approach him with such demands. I understood because VS always stood for what he thought was right,” remembers the 75-year-old, who is the party’s local secretary.
“Whenever VS visited his ancestral home, he would make it to the local committee office. He made time for party workers and local people and we respected him for that, because he was the only leader who had the courage to speak with more confidence and innocence,” he said.
For the fourth straight year, VS will miss the annual commemoration of the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising. The agitation’s 77th observation will begin in Punnapra and Vayalar on Friday, which is also VS’ birthday.
VS was part and parcel of the remembrance for many decades and played a key role in organising it. He paid floral tributes at the memorials in Paravoor, Valiyachudukadu and Vayalar till 2019, before ill-health and the pandemic put paid to his further participation. His enthusiasm and inspiration were always something that party workers looked forward to at the commemorations. Every year, activists gathered in large numbers at Valiyachudukadu and Vayalar to hear him speak.
A day before the observance, VS used to reach Velikkakathu house where he would spend the next week, recounts K V Unni, a party worker from Paravoor.
“Neighbours and party workers would visit to exchange pleasantries. He never missed an opportunity to interact with party workers and former colleagues even when he was the chief minister or leader of Opposition,” said Unni. “He also made it a point to be home for Onam. He would arrive on Uthradam and return to Thiruvananthapuram on Thiruvonam. He never missed this till 2019,” said Unni.
The party and people of Paravoor have made elaborate arrangements to celebrate his birthday. A cake will be cut in his house and payasam will be served. A special puja is arranged at his ancestral Maloor temple, east of Valavanadu, where his mother, Akkamma, hailed from. “However, he never visited the temple, and his family members perform the puja,” said temple convener G Jayathilakan.