VS Achuthanandan, Ex-Kerala Chief Minister, passes away at 101

Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran Marxist leader VS Achuthanandan passed away on Monday, July 21. He was 101 years old.

The veteran leader died at a private hospital in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram while undergoing treatment following a cardiac arrest in June, said CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan.

Fondly known as VS, VS Achuthanandan served as Kerala’s Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011 and was elected to the state assembly seven times, serving three terms as Leader of the Opposition.

The Kerala ex-CM was a founding member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was a lifelong champion of workers’ rights, land reforms, and social justice.

VS Achuthanadan’s political career

In 1964, Achuthanandan left the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) national council to become one of the founding members of the breakaway CPI(M), reported The Hindu.

The Kerala ex-CM served as the secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the CPI(M) from 1980 to 1992.

Elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1970, 1991, and 2001, he also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1992 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2005.

In 2006, Achuthanandan won from the Malampuzha constituency and became the 20th Chief Minister of Kerala. PTI TGB TGB ROH

According to Manorama Online, VS Achuthanandan has been away from active politics due to age-related ailments.

Kerala’s ‘revolutionary son’ VS Achuthanandan

Hailed as Kerala’s “revolutionary sun” by his followers, VS Achuthanandan turned 101 in October last year.

Born on 20 October 1923, into a worker’s family in Punnapra, Alappuzha district, VS Achuthanandan studied up to the seventh standard before stepping into politics through trade union activism in the erstwhile Travancore.

Achuthanandan joined the State Congress in 1939 and became a member of the Communist Party in 1940. His commitment to the party came with significant hardships—he was jailed for over five years and spent nearly four and a half years living underground, as per PTI.