V.S. Achuthanandan, a leader of the masses with no parallels

The Hindu

6 days ago

When I first saw him, comrade VS was addressing a mammoth party rally at Fort Maidan, Palakkad. In his own characteristic style of mixing unusually long and short sentences and gestures using his whole body, he was elaborating on the suffering of local pepper cultivators due to the price crash as a consequence of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade).
Since then, I have had many opportunities to watch him from a distance and later in a more direct manner. Like his speech, the perfect fit white jubba was also his trademark.
My first interaction with VS was in 2000. As the State secretary of the Students Federation of India, I was in the midst of an indefinite hunger strike at the gates of SN College, Kollam. VS visited me, enquired about my health, and fondly advised me to take care. He was the convener of the ruling Left Democratic Front and we often had to discuss issues related to education with him. Some of his great qualities that I have observed are his patient listening and sharpness in quickly identifying issues and offering solutions.
In the 2001 Assembly elections, comrade VS' candidature was announced from Malampuzha, Palakkad. His opponent was the then Kerala Students Union president Satheesan Pacheni. VS summoned me to our party headquarters and instructed me to concentrate on Malampuzha. His rationale was that as the opponent was a student leader, I should be present in his constituency to mobilise the youth and students for electioneering. It proved to be a unique opportunity for me to work closely with him, who subsequently became the Leader of the Opposition. Later, on one of his visits to Palakkad, I was assigned by the party to accompany him. He had a habit of having an early dinner, which the organisers, the Indian Medical Association, had arranged in a restaurant. I had never used forks before, and was trapped in a dilemma about the related etiquette. When I saw VS push aside his cutlery and start eating with his hands, I was relieved and delighted to follow suit.
During his tenure as the Leader of the Opposition, his image of an 'apparatchik' created by the media was transformed to that of a popular communist leader with mass appeal. It is very uncommon for a leader to undergo a transformation like this in their late seventies, and it was a testament to his amazing ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Comrade VS was moulded as a leader in the second half of the 20th century, when television was not at all a factor. Despite this, he quickly adapted to the complexities of the televised era with an enviable ease. He had a great sense of humour. Once I introduced one of our SFI colleagues who was sent to Delhi to work at the national level, VS asked him if he knew Hindi, and when he answered that he did, VS replied in his characteristic demeanour 'so when someone speaks to you, you can understand the language is Hindi, right?' We all burst out laughing.
When I was a Member of Parliament, VS was Chief Minister and he used to take me to meet with Union Ministers. One such memorable meeting was with the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Senior leaders like Pranab Mukherjee had great respect and consideration towards comrade VS. By then, I had come to notice how he was a surprising personality for leaders and journalists in Delhi for his vigour, energy, dedication, and steadfastness. His strict adherence to his diet and exercise, even in his 90s, was a valuable life lesson for youngsters like us.
Comrade VS was a great communist and a leader of the masses who could strike an emotional bond with the common people. His unparalleled revolutionary life spanning over a century has come to an end. Red salute comrade VS.
(The writer is Excise Minister and State committee member of the CPI(M))