PALAKKAD: In 1996, when V S Achuthanandan suffered a shocker in Mararikulam just as he stood on the brink of becoming Kerala’s CM, it almost appeared his political career was over.
However, five years later, Malampuzha, a quiet constituency in Palakkad, gave him a second wind, a turnaround that went on to define not only his legacy, but also Kerala’s Left politics.
The phrase Kulam kaivitta VS ne puzha rakshappeduthi — the river (Malampuzha) saved VS when he was abandoned by the pond (Mararikulam) — captures the emotional and political shift that occurred in 2001. That year, Achuthanandan contested from Malampuzha and won, beginning an extraordinary chapter in electoral politics that lasted two decades.
Between 2001 and 2016, he secured four straight wins from the constituency, defeating prominent Congress and BJP leaders, including Satheesan Pacheni (twice), Latika Subhash, and finally BJP’s C Krishnakumar with record margins.
It was the assembly that gave VS the platform to assert his politics with force and clarity both before the people and his party. As a two-time Leader of Opposition, a CM, and later as chairman of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, he used every opportunity to fight corruption and ideological differences within the CPM. It was his mandate in Malampuzha that shielded him from his own comrades.
“When the party tried to silence Kerala’s tallest communist voice in 1996, Malampuzha brought him back,” recalls Sasidharan P of Kovilpalayam in Elappully. “Whether he was the leader of Opposition or CM, people here had direct access to him. A single letter from him could swing the government machinery into action. The loyalty was mutual.”
Nidhin Kanichery, CPM Palakkad district committee member, who was considered for the Malampuzha seat in 2021 after VC announced his retirement from active politics said the ex-politburo member’s successive victories cemented Malampuzha’s place as his political stronghold and personal bastion.
“More than his political stature, it was the personal bond VS shared with people that stood out,” said Kanichery. “Whenever he visited Malampuzha, large crowds would gather, not out of formality, but to share issues and concerns directly with him. He listened, responded and acted.”
Kanichery said it was during VS’ tenure that significant development initiatives took shape in the region. “From land acquisition for major industrial projects to the groundwork for the coach factory, NH expansion, Malampuzha ring road and the renovation of the Dam garden, these were all milestones under his watch. The Akathethara Overbridge and numerous projects in education, healthcare and agriculture also took off during the period.”
“VS stood by Malampuzha as firmly as Malampuzha stood by VS,” says Mohandas M, Vayanasala branch secretary and ward member in Kodumba panchayat. Malampuzha didn’t just send VS to the Assembly, it gave him the space to rise above party politics, confront power structures, including within his own party, and emerge as a people’s leader.
