The name Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan may sound strange and unfamiliar even to people from Kerala. However, if you mention VS Achuthanandan, or simply VS, it is certain that even his rivals start smiling with admiration.
Achuthanandan, the sole surviving founding member of the CPI(M), turned 100 on Thursday. Born on October 23, 1923, Achuthanandan was sworn in as the chief minister of Kerala at the age of 83 on May 18, 2006, which makes him the oldest politician to reach the top position in the State. Interestingly, it was his charisma and sincerity that propelled him to the chief minister’s chair.
There was a strong anti-Achuthanandan lobby within the CPI(M) against fielding him as a candidate in the 2006 assembly election. However, Kerala witnessed an uprising within the CPI(M) demanding his candidature, and the rest is history. Though he had a lackluster tenure as chief minister from 2006 to 2011, as the party leaders had restricted his authority by denying him the crucial Home Department.
Achuthanandan was a victim of a surreptitious group within the CPI(M).
There was no shortage of internecine groups and turf wars in the party, which claims to be an organisation with strong moral values. The Nairs against the Eezhavas, the Eezhavas against the Thiyas, and the Travancore faction against the Malabar faction fought against each other. Achuthanandan was the chief ministerial candidate in the 1996 assembly election. Although the CPI(M) led LDF won the polls, Achuthanandan suffered a shocking defeat in his constituency because the faction in the party opposed to him undermined his campaign. This led to the swearing-in of EK Nayanar as chief minister for the third time.
Even as his friends and comrades celebrate his birthday, VS, the birthday boy, lies in a semi-conscious state in his rented house in Thiruvananthapuram, where he is being cared for by his wife Sumathi and son Arun Kumar. VS is one of the 32 members who walked out of the national council of the CPI, the parent organisation, in protest against the latter’s infatuation with capitalism and politics of compromise. Born into a poor family in Alappuzha district, he had a difficult childhood and youth. Achuthanandan had to drop out of primary school after losing his father and began working as a tailor at the age of 10. This experience turned him into a fighter, advocating for the rights of workers.
“He started his political career at the age of 14 and participated in a party meeting held in Pallathuruthi on the bund of a canal. The life of VS was a struggle for the rights of the working class, and there is nothing surprising about him emerging as one of the greatest Communist leaders in the country. From an ordinary party worker, Comrade VS rose to become the Secretary of the party’s State wing and then to the position of chief minister,” reminisces G Sudhakaran, who served as a minister in VS’ cabinet for five years.
What made him unique was his uncompromising stance against all forms of communalism. During his tenure as chief minister, Achuthanandan openly stated to the national media that organisations like the Popular Front of India posed a threat to the country. “They are working towards the Islamisation of India, and Love Jihad is proof of this agenda,” he declared during a media briefing in New Delhi in 2010. This statement sealed his fate, as Islamists within the party sought his removal from the CPI(M), a move carried out by the “nouveau rich” faction within the party.
He was subsequently removed from the party’s politburo. The alliance of Pinarayi Vijayan, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and Prakash Karat ensured that Achuthanandan’s influence was curtailed. The 2011 election witnessed internal strife within the CPI(M), leading to the party’s narrow loss. Over the next five years, Achuthanandan waged an all-out war against corruption and nepotism. Although the LDF achieved an impressive victory in the 2016 polls, orchestrated by Achuthanandan, the new leadership brought in Pinarayi Vijayan as chief minister and marginalised the former. When asked about VS’ sidelining, party secretary Sitaram Yechury retorted, “He is the Fidel Castro of Kerala, what more does he need?” However, what the party secretary seemed to forget was that the original Castro was on life support. “A shocked VS has not recovered from that humiliation since then,” noted a source close to him.
