“VS” – The Relentless Comrade Who Refused to Die Quietly

💥Born in poverty. Rose in rebellion. Ruled with fire. Died a legend.

🌾 THE BEGINNING: NOT BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON — NOT EVEN A SPOON

V. S. Achuthanandan was born on 20 October 1923 in Punnapra, a small village in Alappuzha, Kerala, to a poor backward caste Hindu family. His parents, Sankaran (a tailor) and Accamma, passed away when he was just a child. His mother died when he was 4, and father by the time he was 11. No inheritance. No land. No backup plan.

His childhood was a brutal survival game. He worked in a tailor shop with his elder brother, then joined a coir factory to support his family. He never got the chance to study beyond Class 7.

No fancy English schools, no posh city life, no Godfathers.

And yet, he would one day become the Chief Minister of Kerala.

🔥 THE FIRE IGNITES — EARLY POLITICAL LIFE

At age 15, he joined the freedom movement.
By 1940, he became a full-time member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), when Communism in India was still a whisper in the wind. In 1946, he was arrested and jailed for 5 years for participating in the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising — a violent struggle against the Travancore monarchy demanding land for the landless.

Later, he spent 4.5 years underground, hunted like a fugitive, during a time when just carrying a red flag was enough to get killed.

That’s 10 years of his life — spent not on “building political careers” like today’s netas, but literally running for his life for believing in an ideology.

In 1964, when the Communist Party split, he stood with the radicals and became a founding member of CPI(M).

🗳️ POLITICAL JOURNEY – A LIFE LIVED ON THE EDGE

He contested 10 elections, won 7, lost 3.
He became an MLA 7 times, from Ambalappuzha, Mararikulam, and Malampuzha constituencies.

He was Leader of the Opposition for 15 years – the longest in Kerala’s history.

In 2006, at the age of 82, he became the Chief Minister of Kerala — the oldest to do so in the state’s history.

📉 FAILURES & EXCLUSIONS THAT SHOCKED KERALA

• In 1996, despite leading CPI(M) to a victory, he was denied the Chief Minister post by his own party. Why? Internal politics.
• In 2009, he was expelled from the CPI(M) politburo — the top decision-making body — for his outspoken views and refusal to toe the party line, especially when he raised his voice against Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin corruption case.
• He was branded “too old, too stubborn, too honest.” But the people loved him more for those very reasons.

Even in his 80s, people waited hours under the sun just to see this frail old man wave a red flag.

👊 HIS BIGGEST FIGHTS – AGAINST THE POWERFUL, FOR THE POWERLESS

1. Land Reforms: He spearheaded one of the most aggressive land reclamation drives in Kerala’s history — evicting land grabbers from Munnar, reclaiming MG Road from illegal occupation, and returning acres of forest and government land.
2. Anti-corruption: He exposed the powerful R. Balakrishna Pillai, a veteran minister, leading to his arrest.
3. Piracy crackdown: He went after the film piracy mafia with iron fists.
4. Free Software Movement: Pushed Linux-based open-source software in schools when tech giants were selling expensive software licenses.
5. Rehabilitation of Endosulfan victims: Unlike many who only offered sympathy, VS pushed for long-term support and action.

🔐 THE PRISONER WHO NEVER COMPROMISED

• Total jail time: 5+ years
• Underground: 4.5 years
• Arrested multiple times for worker protests, land struggles, and political agitations.
• Tortured, beaten, and publicly shamed — but never backed down.

When asked how he survived all this, he simply said:

“Samaram thanne jeevitham aanu.” (“Struggle itself is life.”)

🏠 HIS FAMILY – A PRIVATE WALL AROUND A PUBLIC LIFE

• Wife: K. Vasumathy (a homemaker)
• Children: Son V. A. Arun Kumar (a former IT official), and daughter V. V. Asha
• He never flaunted his family. Never misused power for nepotism or profit.
• While most netas used CM power to build empires, VS left office without a single corruption charge.

🧠 HIS MIND, HIS MISSION, HIS MADNESS

• He never watched movies for over 30 years.
• Read voraciously, especially Communist literature.
• He lived a minimalist life – small house, simple clothes, basic food.
• Never smoked. Never drank.
• At 90+, he still read newspapers with a magnifying glass and scribbled notes with trembling fingers.

🎭 THE COMRADE WHO BECAME A CELEBRITY

In 2016, he even acted in a Malayalam movie — Campus Diary — playing himself.
That’s right. The same man who spent his early life running from police now played himself on-screen. Full circle.

💔 HIS FINAL DAYS – A COMRADE IN SILENCE

In 2022, he suffered a stroke. His public appearances reduced.
In June 2025, he was hospitalized again due to cardiac arrest and organ failure.
And on 21 July 2025, at 3:20 PM, he passed away at age 101.

An entire era of Indian politics ended with that final breath.
Not just Kerala — India lost one of its last ideological warriors.

📜 SUMMARY OF HIS LIFELONG STATS

😲 FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW

• He walked barefoot for years in early life due to poverty.
• He typed with two fingers on a typewriter until his late 80s.
• Was called the “Red Tape Legend” for never signing any file without reading line by line.
• Refused security convoys or special treatment, even as CM.
• Once said:
  

  “If we don’t live what we preach, we have no right to call ourselves Communists.”

🕊️ FINAL THOUGHT – THE LEGEND OF VS

He lived not to enjoy power, but to question it.
He was not a politician. He was a rebellion in human form.
The last of the breed that didn’t sell out to corporate lobbies or caste politics.
A man who believed struggle was not a phase — but a way of life.

💬 Nishani Conclusion:

In an age of politicians building palaces, he built people’s trust.
In a time of loudmouths, he was the silent storm.
He didn’t just die at 101. He outlived an entire political generation.

Rest in Power, VS.
You weren’t just a comrade.
You were the conscience we badly needed.

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