VS Achuthanandan vs Pinarayi Vijayan: The People’s Politician vs The Politburo’s Poster Boy

“You don’t need a 30-vehicle convoy to rule people’s hearts. A bus pass and a backbone are enough.”
— A silent tribute to VS.

The body of V. S. Achuthanandan is still making its final journey—from Thiruvananthapuram to his hometown in Alappuzha—and the people are refusing to let go. From Tuesday 2 PM to Wednesday 12:30 PM, it hasn’t even reached the destination—because the roads are flooded not with water, but with waves of love. This is not just a farewell; it is a movement, a message, a memory of what a real leader looks like.

Meanwhile, Kerala’s current CM Pinarayi Vijayan still needs a 30+ vehicle Z+ convoy, jammer vans, ambulances, armed NSG commandos, drone jammers, and sometimes, even private sanitisation teams if he steps out into public. And yet, he can’t walk 300 meters without being booed or called out. That’s the difference between earning power and marketing power.

The Two Faces of CPI(M): VS vs Pinarayi

Let’s get brutally honest here.
CPI(M) always had two faces:

• The people’s comrade — VS Achuthanandan
• The party’s comrade — Pinarayi Vijayan

VS never chased power. Pinarayi manufactured it.
VS rejected convoys. Pinarayi increased them.
VS welcomed the media. Pinarayi threatens and bullies journalists.
VS walked with the people. Pinarayi hides behind protocol and security.

And most shocking of all — Pinarayi became CM using VS’s face.
Don’t believe it? Let’s rewind.

The Game CPI(M) Played on VS

In the 2016 election, VS Achuthanandan was the poster boy. Every CPI(M) candidate across Kerala plastered his image on hoardings, pamphlets, and flex boards. “VS for CM” was the whisper campaign even if it was never officially declared.

People came out in massive numbers to vote, believing VS would return as CM.

But after the victory, CPI(M) pulled the classic political bait-and-switch.
Suddenly, Pinarayi Vijayan, not even a sitting MLA, was parachuted in as CM.

Why? Because VS had become too big for the party.
He had public love. Pinarayi only had politburo blessings.

They feared VS because he couldn’t be controlled. He questioned Lavlin scams. He took on encroachers. He challenged party corruption from within. And so, they threw him out of the politburo and later reduced him to a ceremonial chair.

But what happened?
People didn’t care. His popularity skyrocketed.
Even after being sidelined, VS became the moral compass of Kerala politics.

Crowd Puller Till Death — and Beyond

Let’s not forget — the man was 92 when he last contested elections.
They mocked him, called him too old.
And yet, he won — with a margin of over 60,000 votes.

Now, in death, he’s pulling a crowd no living politician in Kerala can dream of.
This isn’t a CPI(M) crowd. This is a Kerala crowd. People from all religions, all classes, all parties, and even those who hate politics — have lined up on roads, highways, fields, and bridges, just to see him once, one last time.

No selfie booths. No influencers. No convoy.
Just pure unfiltered love.

VS: The Poor Man’s Politician

• He lived in a modest government quarter, long after retirement.
• He never used party funds for luxury travel.
• He fought the Munnar mafia, reclaimed illegal landholdings.
• He stood with Endosulfan victims in Kasaragod when nobody else did.
• He took on powerful business lobbies and corrupt bureaucrats even if it meant going against his own party.

Despite being hailed as the “people’s comrade,” V.S. Achuthanandan wasn’t free from flawed decisions.

As Leader of the Opposition, he sometimes resorted to personal attacks and populist rhetoric that diluted larger ideological battles.

During his tenure as Chief Minister (2006–2011), his rigid stance on development projects led to the delay or cancellation of several key infrastructure proposals, including the SmartCity Kochi project initially, which later had to be revived under pressure.

His public clashes with his own party leadership, especially over the Lavalin case and land encroachments in Munnar, often paralyzed governance.

His resistance to certain IT and industrial investments was also seen as outdated in a rapidly modernizing state. And yet, people forgave him—because his flaws were never for personal gain.

He erred not for profit, but from conviction and caution. Even in his mistakes, people saw a man unafraid to stand alone, driven not by power but by principle—and that’s why his love among the masses only grew stronger, not weaker.

His strength wasn’t his voice.
It was his silence when it mattered, and his roar when injustice needed to be crushed.

Pinarayi: The CEO of Kerala Pvt. Ltd

Let’s contrast. Pinarayi rules like a corporate overlord.

• Z+ Security with 30+ vehicle convoy including bulletproof SUVs, police escort vans, signal-jammer vans, first-responder medical units, and mobile surveillance trucks.
• Refuses spontaneous media interaction.
• Snubs even neutral journalists.
• Shuts down dissent even on social media using cyber squads.
• Fails to connect with flood-hit citizens, preferring protocol over empathy.

He is not the face of the people.
He is the face of a government that became arrogant with uninterrupted power.

Final Thought: VS Never Died. He Multiplied.

While Pinarayi needs gunmen, VS needed no protection from the people—because they were his protection.

And today, as his mortal remains move inch-by-inch through Kerala’s heartland, his soul is reborn in every candle held by a child, every tear shed by an old farmer, every slogan shouted by a common man.

You can remove someone from the party.
But you can’t remove them from people’s hearts.

VS didn’t lead CPI(M). He led Kerala.
And for that, he will never die.

#NishaniStandsWithTruth
#VSForever
#PeopleOverPower

✊ To those who rule with arrogance, remember this: one day, you too will travel in a hearse. Let’s see who walks beside you then.

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