THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A leader who stood up for his convictions, VS Achuthanandan was his own master when it came to taking up people’s issues, even at the cost of opposing his party. The iconic communist and former CM passed away on Monday in a private hospital in the state capital, where he was undergoing treatment following a cardiac arrest on June 23. A founding leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), VS turned 101 last October.
The last of the 32 leaders who walked out of the historical CPI national council meet in 1964 to form the CPM, he had been keeping away from politics following a stroke in 2019.
Born on October 20, 1923, to Sankaran and Akkamma, VS lost his mother at the age of four. Initially, he assisted his brother at a tailoring shop, and subsequently became a coir factory worker. Initiated into the state’s political movement by P Krishna Pillai, he started his political life as a trade union activist in 1938 by organising agricultural workers at Kuttanad. He went on to become a member of the Travancore State Congress. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1940 and was later part of the undivided CPI state secretariat in 1957. VS was also a part of the country’s freedom struggle. He spent over five years in prison and four years underground.
VS was at the forefront of ‘land’ struggles, starting with the Alappuzha declaration in 1970 demanding implementation of the Land Reforms Act passed by the EMS Government in 1967. On numerous occasions, he faced opposition and criticism for raising his voice against corrupt practices indulged in by fellow leaders. In 1962, during the Sino-Indian war, he was demoted for supporting blood donation camps for Indian soldiers.
A long-term CPM state secretary, VS was legendary for his firm stance in dealing with issues. A politburo member for almost three decades since 1985, he was dropped from the body in 2009 while serving as the CM. He was elected to the assembly in 1967, 1970, 1991, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016.
A Marxist with a rebellious streak, the Alappuzha strongman had to face a string of disciplinary actions in CPM. The same conviction also saw him adopt a stance against his once-upon-a-time bête-noire Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin deal. The standoff kept the party on tenterhooks for a long time.
It was during the Indo-China war that VS was first castigated by the party. Late CPM leader M M Lawrence who was subjected to bitter party disciplinary action in the 90s, had once recalled how VS, while in jail, decided to donate blood to Indian Army soldiers without consulting the party. The party observed that the move amounted to supporting the government that was trying to wreck the Communist party. He was demoted from central committee to branch committee. However, he made a comeback in the very next Party Congress.
The infamous Vettinirathal episode got him his second disciplinary action in the form of a public censure. 2007’s beginning saw him being warned by the CPM on the ADB loan row. The biggest punishment came in May 2007, when VS, the then CM, along with the then state secretary Pinarayi, were suspended from the Politburo for their public spat. Though they were repatriated after four months, VS was dropped from the Politburo in 2009 for deviating from the party position on the CBI case against Pinarayi.
In 2012, VS was first censured by the Central Committee when he compared Pinarayi to S A Dange, who presided over the split in the undivided CPI in 1964. Months later, he faced yet another public censuring. If most previous disciplinary actions were for factional feuding, this one was for his attempted visit to Koodankulam to express solidarity with protesters opposing the nuclear power plant. The next year, he faced one more censure for his remarks against the party line — for his statement that he has more trust in the CAG than his own party.
The ‘most unkindest cut of all’ came in the form of a party resolution that openly termed him a ‘comrade with an anti-party mindset’, during the 2015 Alappuzha state conference.
By then, the veteran, serving as the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, found himself completely isolated within the party, leading him to storm out of the conference. In January 2017, VS faced probably his ninth corrective action in the form of a censure, that was a mere face-saver for the CPM leadership. It did nothing to dent VS’ widespread popularity among the masses.
No doubt, VS was the party’s most popular leader among the masses and was the main campaigner in the 2016 assembly polls. He is survived by his wife K Vasumathy and children VA Arunkumar and VV Asha.
