KOCHI: Late Communist stalwart V S Achuthanandan was known not just as a rigid ideologue, but as a highly effective organiser. Each election season, one story returns to the spotlight — his electrifying turn as campaign manager for CPI candidate Rosamma Punnoose in the 1958 Devikulam by-election. The young leader from the coastal plains climbed the misty hills and rewrote the rules of electioneering in Kerala.
“I watched with curiosity the remarkable campaign leadership of VS at the time. I was just 17. His efforts, even across the toughest terrain, greatly benefited the party. Even then, his campaign style was marked by persistence and tactical flexibility,” recalls CPM veteran M M Mani.
The story began in 1957, during Kerala’s first-ever assembly election, when Rosamma Punnose won from Devikulam. Her victory, however, was short-lived, as an election tribunal annulled the result, triggering a by-election in 1958. The Communist government held power with a slender majority, turning Devikulam into a high-stakes battlefield. The party made a bold choice, handing charge of the constituency to the young VS, who had just proven his mettle in Alappuzha.
He brought a fresh, electrifying campaign strategy. This was a constituency of plantation workers with a large Tamil-speaking population, and VS knew exactly how to connect. In a move that stunned many, he brought Tamil cultural icons onto campaign trail, including MGR.
It remains the only election in Kerala where MGR actively campaigned. Accompanying the troupe was a young musician who would later become a legend — Ilaiyaraaja.
VS travelled relentlessly, reaching every corner of the constituency, energising party workers and building strong grassroots wave. The once-quiet hills of Devikulam began to echo with the same political fervour that had swept Alappuzha’s coastal plains.
When the votes were counted, Rosamma staged a remarkable comeback, defeating B K Nair by around 7,000 votes. She returned to Thiruvananthapuram as Devikulam’s MLA. “It was more than a win. It reshaped political loyalties in Idukki,” says Mani.