V S Achuthanandan, titan of Kerala politics, passes away at 101

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Legendary communist leader and former chief minister V S Achuthanandan passed away on Monday at the SUT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He was 101. His wife and children were present in the hospital at the time of his death. VS leaves behind his wife K Vasumathi, children V A Arun Kumar, Dr V V Asha, daughter-in-law Dr Rajani Balachandran and Dr V Thankaraj.

VS, who was bedridden following a stroke, suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the SUT Hospital on June 23rd. His health condition after being admitted to cardiac ICU, had improved and he was responding to medication. His health condition was being closely monitored by a team of expert doctors comprising various specialists. His condition suddenly deteriorated and his blood pressure and functioning of kidneys worsened. Senior leaders including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, M V Govindan, S Ramachandran Pillai, V Joy, K N Balagopal, Veena George, Congress leader V M Sudheeran and many others reached the hospital.

VS was born on October 20, 1923, to Shankaran and Akkamma, at Velikakathu in Punnaprayil, Ambalapuzha taluk in Alappuzha. After losing his mother at four and father at 11, he was raised by his paternal aunt. VS after finishing his studies in the seventh standard, assisted his elder brother in a textile shop for some time. He had also worked in a coir factory.

Inspired by the Nivarthana agitation in the country, Achuthanandan joined the State Congress in 1938. Then in 1940, he became a member of the Communist Party. It was P Krishna Pillai who discovered that communist in VS. He sent VS among the agricultural workers of Kuttanad to spread the ideology of the party and drom there, Achuthanandan grew into a leader of the communist movement.

While participating in the Punnapra Vayalar protest, he went into hiding in Poonjar following an arrest warrant. Later, when he was arrested, VS was brutally beaten in the lockup. He was later imprisoned in Poojappura Central Jail for four years. In 1952, VS was elected as the Alappuzha Division Secretary of the Communist Party. VS, who became a member of the party's state committee in 1954, was elected as the Alappuzha district secretary and also a member of the party's state secretariat in 1956. VS was one of the seven leaders from Kerala who formed the CPM by walking out of the 1964 National Council meeting that led to the split of the Communist Party.