Remembering VS Achuthanandan: The Left leader who rose after defeat

Thiruvananthapuram, July 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) Kerala on Tuesday remembered one of its tallest political figures as the CPI(M) observed the first death anniversary of former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan with commemorative programmes across the state.

His portraits adorned party offices and public spaces, while party workers paid homage to the veteran leader whose political legacy continues to resonate well beyond the Left.

The focal point of the observances is Valiyachudukadu in Punnapra, Alappuzha, where Achuthanandan was laid to rest.

CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan led the morning floral tributes at the newly-built memorial, while a massive public meeting and rally to be held in the evening will be inaugurated by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan.

A half-bust of Achuthanandan will also be unveiled at his ancestral home, Velikkakathu, in Punnapra.

As Kerala remembers Achuthanandan, history recalls that the defining phase of his political life began not with a victory but with a crushing defeat.

In the 1996 Assembly election, Achuthanandan lost from his traditional stronghold at a time when he was widely expected to become Chief Minister if the Left Democratic Front returned to power.

The setback, which many believed would end his political career, instead gave him a remarkable second innings.

From then until his death on July 21, 2025, Achuthanandan transformed himself from a senior Communist leader into Kerala's foremost mass campaigner.

His relentless pursuit of corruption cases, his campaigns against illegal land encroachments and environmental destruction, and his interventions on issues ranging from Plachimada and Endosulfan victims to the Suryanelli survivor earned him admiration that cut across political affiliations.

As Leader of the Opposition between 2001 and 2006, he emerged as the government's fiercest critic and one of the state's most popular leaders.

Yet, even as his public stature grew, his rivalry with fellow CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan became one of the defining internal contests within the party. Despite initial reluctance within sections of the party leadership, widespread support from cadres and the public ensured that Achuthanandan led the Left into the 2006 Assembly election.

The LDF won, making him Chief Minister at the age of 82.

The story almost repeated itself in 2011.

Again there were attempts to sideline him before the elections, but protests from party workers secured his candidature.

The Left eventually fell short by just a handful of seats.

Had the verdict tilted marginally in its favour, Achuthanandan would almost certainly have become Kerala's first Communist Chief Minister to win a second consecutive term.

When the Left returned to power in 2016, many expected the veteran to finally receive that opportunity. Instead, Pinarayi Vijayan was chosen Chief Minister, while Achuthanandan was appointed Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission with Cabinet rank.

As his health steadily declined from late 2019 and through 2020, he gradually withdrew from public life and remained indoors until his passing.

There is a poignant symbolism in the commemorations.

At the very place where Achuthanandan rests in Punnapra, the evening's largest memorial gathering will be addressed by Pinarayi Vijayan, the one-time political rival whose long and often turbulent relationship with Achuthanandan shaped the CPI(M)'s modern history.

It is a reminder that while Achuthanandan may have lost the election that could have made him Chief Minister in 1996, it was that very defeat that transformed him into one of Kerala's most enduring political legends.

Source: IANS