V. S. Achuthanandan
Personal Details
Name : Velikakathu Shankaran Achuthanandan
Education : Forced to quit studies at Class VII
Languages known: Malayalam and English
Wife : Smt. K. Vasumathy
Children : 1 son and 1 daughter
Travels (abroad) :
Hobbies :
The anti-reclamation stir launched by the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU) at Mancombu in 1996-97 against filling up of paddy fields for purposes other than cultivation has come full circle with Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan announcing at a KSKTU meeting at Mancombu on Monday that destruction of crops will not be carried out as a part of the agitation for protection of paddy cultivation in future.
The anti-reclamation stir had earned the sobriquet ``vettinirathal samaram'' following the violent methods resorted to by the KSKTU cadre. It was Mr. Achuthanandan himself who had inaugurated the agitation in 1996-97.
The first victim of the stir was a farmer at Mancombu who had planted coconut and other crops in his reclaimed paddy field. The KSKTU workers destroyed the crops completely. That was followed by destruction of crops in a four-acre plot by the side of Alappuzha-Changanassery road.
The stir, later, spread to other parts of Alappuzha district, which included Charumood, Veetikkode and Nooranad. The KSKTU cadres planted the party flag at a plot at Vetticode, which was levelled by its owner for forming an industrial unit. The industrialist had to revoke his plan following the fierce agitation by the KSKTU men. Violence and forceful occupation of the filled up paddy field was the main feature of the KSKTU stir then and the CPI(M) did not interfere in it.
Meanwhile, the stir had evoked counter allegations against the CPI(M). There had been allegations that the Kuttanad Chethu Tozhilali Union office, where the stir was inaugurated, was constructed in a filled up paddy field.
Those who opposed the anti-reclamation stir had pointed out that while the KSKTU was organising anti-reclamation agitation, the farmers of Kuttanad were not getting enough workers for labour in the paddy fields. According to the farmers, the absence of adequate number of labourers was one of the reasons that forced them to level paddy fields and cultivate less labour-intensive crops there.
There had also been allegations that groupism in the CPI(M) was the reason behind the violent stir. It had been alleged that the KSKTU, which owed allegiance to Mr. Achuthanandan, had organised intense agitation to decrease the influence of CITU lobby in the party. The stir lost its steam, later, when the CPI(M) decreased the tempo of the agitation following the criticisms raised against it.
It has to be noted that those who had opposed the stir and argued that the farmer had the right to cultivate the crop of his liking on his land are now stressing the need to protect paddy fields.
V S Achuthanandan: No movies for 30 years, no school beyond Class 7, his first job was weaving coir mattresses
Unlike his comrade Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Velikkakath Sankaran Achuthanadan isn’t terribly excited about information technology—during his campaign, he targeted the state’s showpiece
From a group of software engineers in
The next days, weeks, months are going to test this but in one thing, the Kerala CM isn’t so far away from the Bengal CM: his personal is fused with the political.
So if Bhattacharjee’s two-room house has become a party symbol of austerity, VS’s entire past is paraded as an allegory for his present and future. As a child who lost his mother when he was only four, his father at 11, he dropped out of school when he was in Class 7. End of education.Recalls a senior colleague at Deshabhimani, the party paper: “I once asked him why he, who loves to read so much, dropped out so early. He said he could have continued even without buying books but just didn’t have the strength to starve in school every day.”
The 12-year-old dropout then began helping his elder brother at a tiny village cloth shop. His first regular job: meshing coir to make ropes at a local factory. Since then, he has weaved a political fabric, art and craft in equal measure and today at 83, he is still doing it.
In the party, he’s almost a mythic character, his hardline so hardline that for many in the party, it evokes more nostalgia than frustration. Even in his personal life, it’s the hard line that he walks. A typical VS day begins with a 20-minute yoga session before dawn after a five-hour sleep. His personal aides say he doesn’t waver from the routine: breakfast of three idlis, “a fistful of rice” and vegetables as lunch at noon, three rotis and a Robusta banana before 6 pm for dinner. The same menu, the same timing, day after day.
“A few months back, he mentioned in passing that he had not seen a movie in the last thirty years. I asked if he would let me take him to one and he abruptly agreed. We went for a commercial Malayalam movie that he sat through silently,” says a close confidant. You won’t catch him listening to music either — though he sprang a surprise on a TV programme last week, singing a 1960s romantic song.
He is a voracious reader, often spending almost every minute of his travel hours in it. The rear seat of his car is crammed with newspapers, periodicals and books. He, however, is not known to be particularly fond of any genre of fiction.
Like many communists of his generation, thoughts of a family dawned rather late on Sri. V.S.Achuthanandan. He was 40 when he married Smt. Vasumathi, then a staff nurse at the
Resolute. Uncompromising. Clean. No other words would best describe the almost seven decade long political life of Sri. V.S. Achuthanandan, Kerala’s new Chief Minister. Comrade VS to his followers, he carries with him the dreams of the man on the street.
Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan was born on 20th October 1923 in Punnapra, Alappuzha to Sri. Sankaran and Smt. Accamma. Memories of childhood are not that sweet for Achuthanandan. He lost his mother when he was four and his father seven years later. He was then supported by his brother Sri. Gangadharan, who ran their father’s tailoring shop. As the going got tough, he dropped out of school and started helping his brother. His formal education ended in Class VII and his initiation into politics followed soon. Independent struggle, fights against feudalism and caste system all instilled in him the urge to fight, to revolt and he joined the State Congress in 1939. A year later, at the age of 17, Achuthanandan became a member of the Communist Party.
Experiences of harassment and exploitation as a worker at the Aspinwal coir factory made VS an active trade unionist. Recognising his capabilities, communist stalwart Sri. P.Krishna Pillai deputed Achuthanandan to organize farm workers against feudalism in Kuttanad, Kerala’s rice bowl. Under his leadership voices of protest began to be heard loud. Success in the Sreemoolam Kayal Agitation was pivotal in building up a farm workers’ movement in the region. Achuthanandan played an important role in organizing workers for the historic Punnapra- Vayalar uprising as well. As a consequence of his politics of agitation, he was imprisoned for five and a half years and was forced to go underground for four and half years. He has survived brutal police excesses as well.
At the organizational level, Achuthanandan became the party’s Alappuzha district secretary in 1952. Here also his tryst with history continued when he left the CPI National Council along with 31 other members to form CPI (M) in 1964. From 1980 to 1992 he led the party in Kerala as its state secretary. He is a member of the party Polit Bureau since 1985.
Achuthanandan has got elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1970, 1991, 2001 before becoming Chief Minister in 2006. He was the Leader of Opposition from 1992 to 1996 and from 2001 till May 2006 and used his position successfully in raising crucial public issues and fighting corruption. He now represents Malampuzha Constituency. His efforts generated immense popular support which contributed to his elevation as Chief Minister.
After the Assembly Elections in 2006, CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) gained an absolute majority in the house. The State Committee and Polit Bureau of CPI(M) unanimously decided to make Achuthanandan the Chief Minister of Kerala. He took oath of office on 18 May 2006 as the twentieth Chief Minister of Kerala.
As a Chief Minister of the state of Kerala he has succeeded in the revival of several public sector units, measures to tackle price rises, reaching an agreement on the Smart City project in Kochi and the initiating firm action against encroachment of government land in the hill resort and tea plantation town of Munnar.
Achuthanandan had 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 the member of the Politburo since 1985. He was also active in parliamentary politics as he became the 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, later he was removed from the post. V.S.Achuthanandan and E. Balanandan were opposing each other earlier on the issue of Trade Union independence, but both united to fight against the Social Democratic group of CPI(M) along with the Left intellectual M. N. Vijayan.
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) [citation needed]. During his 40 years as a politician he was imprisoned for five years and six months[citation needed] and had gone under 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 one 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.
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 controvesy. The protest got the sobriquetvettinirathal samaram 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 shootout killing many.
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.[citation needed]} He lost his mother when he was four years old and father when he was 11 years old. This forced him to give up his studies after finishing 7th 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.
Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, ( (20 October 1923 – ) is the twentieth Chief Minister of Kerala state,
Velikakathu Shankaran Achuthanandan popularly known as Comrade VS, belongs to a rare brand of leaders .He has no stature of an intellectual giant but why do people wait for the comments of this high school drop out on all issues? He has no stature of a man of charisma but why do people gather where ever he is? He was never a man in power but what has contributed to his phenomenal organizational skill?
For him, leadership didn't come in a platter. Neither does he see leadership just as a token of appreciation for the hardships he underwent, earlier in his political life. The responsibilities entitled on him is accepted as a mandate to share the hardships even more. At 83, you can find him with a youthful exuberance and in the midst of people whenever and wherever an atrocity is done. Its his passion for the soil, its sons that makes him a man of the masses. A humanitarian to the core, no barrier could ever stop him from his life motto.
V. S. Achuthanandan
Personal Details
Name : Velikakathu Shankaran Achuthanandan
Education : Forced to quit studies at Class VII
Languages known: Malayalam and English
Wife : Smt. K. Vasumathy
Children : 1 son and 1 daughter
Travels (abroad) :
Hobbies :
