V.S. Achuthanandan
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V.S. Achuthanandan
Chief Minister of Kerala
Preceded by	Oommen Chandy
Constituency	Malampuzha
Born	October 20, 1923 (1923-10-20) (age 85) Alappuzha, Kerala
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Spouse	K. Vasumathy (Married July 18, 1967)
Children	1 son and 1 daughter
Religion	Atheism
Website	http://www.keralacm.gov.in
As of May 18, 2006 Source: Government of Kerala

Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, (Malayalam: വേലിക്കകത്ത് ശങ്കരന്‍ അച്യുതാനന്ദന്‍) (born 20 October 1923) is an Indian politician who has been the twentieth Chief Minister of Kerala state since May 2006. He has also been a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) since 1985.

Early life

Born on 20 October 1923 to Sankaran and Accamma in Alappuzha district of Kerala state, Achuthanandan had to face poverty from a very early age. He lost his mother when he was four years old and subsequently lost his father at age 11. This forced him to quit his studies after finishing 7^th standard in school. He started working by helping his elder brother in a village tailoring shop. Later he took up the job of meshing coir to make ropes at a coir factory. ^{1 2}

Political life

He entered politics through trade union activities and joined State Congress in 1938. In 1940, he became a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI). During his 40 years as a politician he was imprisoned for five years and six months and was in hiding for four and half years. He was a state secretariat member of the CPI in 1957. During the Sino-Indian war in 1962, he was with the nationalists in the party, supporting Indian side. He was demoted in the party rank when he participated in a blood donation camp to help Indian soldiers. He is the only living Keralite among the 32 members who left the CPI National Council in 1964 to form the CPI(M). He is the senior most leader of CPI(M) in Kerala.

Suspension

On May 26, 2007, the CPI(M) suspended Achuthanandan, along with Pinarayi Vijayan, state secretary of CPI(M), from the Politburo for their public remarks on each other. The central committee has approved the Politburo's decision to suspend them. Later the central committee revoked the suspension of VS. ^{3 4}

Leadership

Achuthanandan has served many positions in his long political career. He was the Kerala State Secretary of the CPI(M) between 1980 and 1992 and he became a member of the Politburo in 1985. He has also been active in parliamentary politics; he was elected as a member of Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1970, 1991, 2001 and 2006. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. He was the editor of CPI(M) mouth piece in Malayalam, Deshabhimani Daily;

2006 Assembly Elections

During the assembly elections held in Kerala in April-May 2006, VS Achuthanandan defeated Satheesan Pacheeni of the United Democratic Front by a margin of 20,017 votes in Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district.

Major achievements

• As a Chief Minister he has succeeded in reviving several public sector units, measures to tackle price rises, reaching an agreement on the Smart City project in Kochi.
• Initiated action against encroachment on government land in the hill resort and tea plantation town of Munnar.
• On 30 December 2007, he became the first Communist CM to trail to the 800-year-old hill temple of Sabarimala. The 84-year-old Achuthanandan rejected any sort of physical or medical support as he worried doctors trying to catch up with him while trudging non-stop three hours on foot. ⁵
• V S Achuthandan supports free and open source software movement in the state and Richard Stallman has also supported his activities regarding this. ⁶

Issues

Controversies

• During the 2006 Assembly Elections, the party had to revert its decision of not to field Achuthanandan as a candidate. This was in reaction to organised protest marches by Achuthanandan groups across the state. Many people believe that he had links with the planned demonstration against the party. However, an enquiry was conducted in this regard and some of his supporters were punished and the rest would escape. ^{7 8}

• The anti-reclamation stir launched by the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU) at Mankonpu in 1996-97, under the leadership of Achuthanandan created much controversy. The protest got the sobriquet following the violent methods and crop destruction resorted to by the KSKTU cadre. The stir generated lot of public criticism and Achuthanandan expressed his disapproval of any further destruction of crops. He was active in the famous Punnapra-Vayalar uprising that led to a police shoot-out with many casualties. ⁹

• He initiated the Munnar eviction mission. Massive portions of land allegedly grabbed over the years by resort owners and multinational companies like Tata Tea Limited. Later, the demolition team landed in the city of Kochi, and other cities in Kerala and recovered huge parts of land and subsequently. Unfortunately, the mission had failed and even the team which led it was orphaned. The District Collector, Inspector General of Police and the Person in charge had been replaced. As the opponents’ claim, this may cause to have lost some credibility of the government. Meanwhile, Achuthanandan said that the Munnar mission would continue vigorously and extended to other areas^{10 11 12}

• Being the chief minister of the state, he has to frequently face struggle with Pinarayi Vijayan, the powerful head of the party which leads the ruling coalition. Both of them are heading for showdowns, which often lacking Achuthanandan to take strong decisions. This power struggle often turned worse as both attacking each other. As a result, this group fights created two set of party leaders and even the ministers in the government, the name called VS groups and Pinarayi groups. ^{13 14}

• In a statement he called Faris Abubakhar, a businessman in Kerala as a ‘hated man’ as the latter’s alleged involvement with the kidney racket in Singapore. Later, during an interview with a TV channel, Farris Abubacker claimed that he bribed money to VS Achuthanandan also. ^{Interview video} This became controversy again and VS dismissed the whole allegations made by Farris as ‘fabricated’. ¹⁵

Criticism

• During the CPM state conference held in Kottayam, he has been criticized strongly due to his style of functioning by a majority of Pinarayi Vijayan supporters (38/53) known as official faction and they demanded his ouster from Chief Minister. They warned that the party would lose seats if it goes for ahead parliamentary elections under his leadership. ^{16 17}

• Media raked up another issue in the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks after slain NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's father literally shouted at the Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan on Sunday. CM, who had been criticized for his delay in offering condolences to the bereaved family, tried to make up by calling on the victim's family who also hailed from his state. The father hesitated in accepting the head of a state imagining that it could reduce the national significance of the cause for which Sandeep laid down his life,¹⁸, and shouted "Get out, get out, dogs" at the CM and his colleague, which was accepted as an emotional outburst of a bereaved father by the Chief Minister. ¹⁹ On repeatedly asked by a news reporter why he chose to go there, Achuthanandan replied "If it had not been (Major) Sandeep's house, not even a dog would have gone there". The comment sparked a major controversy and attracted major criticism for the 85 year old chief minister, who later expressed regret for making a statement that could be misunderstood when taken out of context.²⁰²¹

References

External links

• The official website of the Chief Minister of Kerala

Further read

• Indianetzone news about V S Achuthanandan
• Financial Express news, Kerala takes the fizz out of Coke & Pepsi
• Tehelka News
• comradevs.com, A webpage designed for V S Achuthanandan