V.S.ACHUTHANANDAN by Prof. Prabhat Patnaik

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It is difficult these days, after the end of the classical period of Communism, to find a Communist leader who enjoys such mass popularity as V.S.Achuthanandan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He may not be well-known outside his state, Kerala, but within the state, which has a population of over 33 million, he is by far the most popular political leader. In fact it is difficult to think of any living Communist leader, other than Fidel Castro of course, who enjoys such massive popularity, cutting across party lines.

Born into an Ezhava family  in the Alapuzha district of Kerala in 1923, Achuthanandan, who lost his mother at the age of four and his father at the age of eleven, had to give up his studies and work as a tailor’s apprentice. Later he joined a coir factory as a worker and participated in trade union activities, through which he came to Communism and became a member of the Party in 1940, shortly after its formation in Kerala in 1939. When the undivided Communist Party split in 1964, Achuthanandan who had spent almost a decade of his life in jail or underground, became one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He spent twelve years as the Secretary of the Kerala State CPI(M) and almost a decade as the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala State Legislative Assembly, before leading the Left Democratic Front, of which the CPI(M) was the principal constituent, to a massive victory in the 2006 elections, to become the Chief Minister of the state for the next five years. The LDF narrowly lost the 2011 elections, which was itself a creditable feat in view of Kerala’s history of always rejecting incumbent governments, and Achuthanadan became once more the Leader of the Opposition, a post he holds to date.

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