India’s oldest Marxist, VS Achuthanandan, devoted his life and energy to fisherfolk, palm-wine labourers and coir workers
January 21 marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Vladimir Lenin, the first leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and it was a moment marked by India’s last-surviving communist government.
“Lenin developed Marxism as a revolutionary principle,” said Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister (CM) of the southern Indian state of Kerala. “His extraordinary intelligence, fearless revolutionary spirit and exceptional leadership qualities gave spirit and direction to the Russian revolution.”
The communist parties in India have lost power in West Bengal and are will not return for the foreseeable future. The communist front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI-M, in Kerala remains; though skeptics might say the political parties survive even if the ideology’s true spirit and essence are missing. And one of the stalwarts who kept the party alive despite the collapse of the Soviet Union was Venthalathara Sankaran Achuthanandan aka VS, who turned 100 last October.
VS held Kerala spellbound for decades; but in the past five years, the state has missed his fiery voice. He was once the state’s CM and thrice its opposition leader, as well as serving as the CPI-M state secretary for years. A quintessential communist, his foray into politics came at a tender age, forced by the poverty, inequality, and casteism of the pre-Emergency period in India, which only worsened with the imposition of Emergency rule by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in June 1975.
A politician of a non–pragmatic era that was fueled by ideology and principles, VS stood the test of time and was a leader in the state for more than eight decades.
VS became the only surviving founding member of the CPI-M when, on November 15, 2023, party colleague and freedom fighter N Sankaraiah of neighboring Tamil Nadu died at the age of 102. Out of the limelight due to poor health, VS still remains ‘Kannu’ and ‘Karalu’ (Malayalam terms of affection) to the masses.
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