Punnapra-Vayalar survivors remember revolt that shaped ‘a true communist'
Having participated in the Punnapra-Vayalar peasant uprising in 1946, a frail-looking Thampi narrates his experience of lining up behind the communist stalwart who passed away on Monday.
'VS was in his early 20s when he took part in the revolt,' he says. 'He organised coir workers and fishermen. He was tortured and thrown into prison. He became a popular leader after the party split in 1964. But even prior to that, he was loyal and a true communist,' says Thampi.
And it is not just Thampi. Most people in Punnapra, Vayalar, and nearby areas have stories to share about VS and the space he holds in their hearts.
Recounting the agitation that shaped the communist movement in Kerala, they say they have no idea how many were killed by the troops of Sir CP (Ramaswami Aiyar).
Chellappan, 98, who was in the Valiyaveedu camp during the revolt, says VS was a good orator and a crowd puller.
'Comrade T V Thomas led the revolt while Achuthanandan organised the people and labourers. He [VS] spoke about the significance of the protest. I was part of the coir factory workers unions from 1944. I felt I should also stand for the cause. It was a horrific situation. The labourers struggled a lot. We could only stand together and protest to protect our lives and rights. The government was also with the oppressors. The revolt helped in establishing democracy and ensuring the right to vote,' says Chellappan, who hails from Kalavoor.
Thampi was working in a coir factory, and later when the factory closed, he joined the fishermen community in Alappuzha Padinjaru (West). 'My siblings and relatives were also part of the revolt. We were given training by former military officials. We never knew there would be killings and gunshots. Some were killed, others were jailed and a few escaped. VS was in the prison, later he was released from the jail,' Thampi adds.
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VS versus EMS Achuthanandan's ideological clarity meant that when Namboodiripad came around to Raghavan's view on doing business with parties such as Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Church-backed Kerala Congress, he steadfastly held on to it. This was even after he narrowly missed out on being the chief minister in 1991 when Nayanar called for early elections to coincide with the Lok Sabha polls. A consensus was reached to switch the roles of Nayanar and Achuthanandan beforehand. The CPI (M)'s overconfidence was driven by its sweep of the district council polls, but Rajiv Gandhi's assassination swung that election in favour of the Congress. VS always found himself at one end of the factionalism in the Kerala unit of the CPI (M) that took root in the early nineties and ebbed and flowed until 2016. It was Achuthanandan's loss to Nayanar by two votes in the 1991 CPI (M) state conference in Kozhikode that served as a trigger for factionalism to initiate in the Kerala unit of the CPI (M). While the Cold War officially ended in 1991, another sort of war was brewing between VS and Namboodiripad in Kerala. Even before he officially stood down as the CPI (M) general secretary in 1992, Namboodiripad shifted from New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram. This created a new power centre and that made VS uneasy, as recounted by Communist ideologue and senior journalist 'Berlin' Kunhanandan Nair, in his memoir 'Polichezhuthu'. In fact, the loss of Achuthanandan to Nayanar as state secretary was orchestrated by Namboodiripad himself. EMS suggested a couple of changes to the official panel put forth by VS, and that ensured that he lost the majority in the committee. 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Achuthanandan was particularly vocal on gender issues, rights of the marginalised and environment. His anti-corruption crusade complemented it further. Not since earned the sobriquet 'Pavangalude Padathalavan' (leader of the poor masses) had a communist leader endeared himself to Kerala's public so much. However, this phase heralded Achuthanadan's bitter rivalry with Vijayan, who became another power centre after assuming the role of state secretary in 1998. The next episode in factionalism tumbled out in public during the Kannur state conference in 2002. This manifested as a clash of ideologies between the Marxist-Leninist ideals represented by VS and the revisionist line of Vijayan. This phase witnessed another realignment within the CPI (M) unit as VS made truce with a weakened CITU faction for outmanoeuvring Vijayan. Ahead of the Malappuram state conference in 2005, Achuthanandan was supremely confident of replacing Vijayan with his nominee as state secretary, but that was not to be. Many leaders who professed loyalty to VS switched camps overnight and it was the veteran's turn to be vanquished. He, however, still held sway over the party in districts like Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Kasaragod and Palakkad, even if Alappuzha and Idukki came under Vijayan's grasp. His humiliation at the state conference only bolstered his image in public. A section of Kerala's media, inadvertently or otherwise, played a role in elevating VS as a paragon of virtues, casting Vijayan as the villain of the piece. Vijayan's arrogant ways did not help his cause either, and this gradually built up to the showdown in 2006 when VS was denied a seat. By then Vijayan had a firm ally in CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat. In an impromptu expression of solidarity, Marxist cadres took to the streets demanding that VS be fielded. The huge public outcry and fear of electoral setback forced CPI (M)'s hand and the politburo met to overturn the decision. Achuthanandan was instrumental in getting the central leadership to veto Vijayan's proposal to ally with the Democratic Indira Congress ahead of that election. Notwithstanding that, the Left's victory in 2006, registering almost 50 percent vote share, was its most authoritative since 1967. Vijayan attempted to thwart Achuthanandan's chief ministership even after the historical win by putting forth the name of Left convener Paloli Muhammed Kutty instead. But, the central leadership backed VS for the post that he missed twice. That didn't prevent the state unit under Vijayan from clipping the wings of VS, first by taking the home portfolio away from him and reposing it with the former's trusted loyalist, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Even the Vigilance portfolio was also taken away on account of fears that he would settle scores. The party under Vijayan kept the CM on a short leash, even controlling the day-to-day functioning of the government. VS could not even nominate his loyalists as private secretary, and any government file was within Vijayan's reach. That did not prevent him from running an efficient administration, and the term was marked by significant legislations of the kind the Left hadn't undertaken since the '80s, including the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008, a logical conclusion to Achuthanandan-initiated aforementioned Vetti-nirathal. Meanwhile, factionalism was at its peak after the Kottayam state conference in 2008 when Vijayan at the concluding event shouted at the cadres 'to not behave as if Usha Uthup's music show was underway', visibly peeved at the sloganeering in favour of VS. Also Read: Now at steering wheel, MA Baby has to navigate the believers' road, Pinarayi's grip on CPI(M) Denial of mandate in 2011 At the height of factionalism in 2009, VS snubbed the Vijayan-led Nava Kerala March preceding the Lok Sabha elections, until the concluding event held in Thiruvananthapuram. Vijayan's jibe at VS by likening him to a bucket of water unlike the waves formed in the ocean, was a sharp rejoinder to the veteran. Achuthanandan hit back at Vijayan by drawing comparison with Mikhail Gorbachev and the revisionist practices leading to the Soviet Union's fall. When VS publicly disowned Vijayan on the SNC-Lavalin case–going against the state committee's decision to back Vijayan–it was deemed breach of party discipline, resulting in his removal from the CPI (M) politburo in 2009. Vijayan was spared of any action, with Karat backing the Kannur strongman all the way. Achuthanandan was never reinstated to the CPI (M)'s highest body. According to the likes of N. Venu, who floated the splinter Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) along with in 2008, VS was flirting with the idea of splitting the party during this phase. This has also been echoed by the likes of Nair and others who willed VS to chart a new course, but it was a bridge too far for the veteran who bent the rules never to break them. There were overtures also from the CPI but Achuthanandan was always careful of his legacy. VS saw how the likes of and Raghavan faded to relative insignificance after charting independent courses. In 2011, the Achuthanandan government lost the Kerala elections by a wafer-thin margin of 68-72. There have been covert and overt barbs of internal sabotage aimed at Vijayan for that outcome since then, most recently when Achuthanandan's ministerial colleague conveyed it through a poem in Kalakaumudi weekly. Achuthanandan got a third term as the LoP, lasting until 2016. His final term as Kerala LoP was no less eventful. The brutal hacking of RMP's Chandrasekharan, a VS loyalist, in 2012 further widened the rift with Vijayan. When the media sought his comment following the dastardly attack on Chandrasekharan, Vijayan doubled down by stating that 'a traitor is always a traitor'. Notwithstanding the party's embargo on visiting the slain leader's home, VS called on Chandrasekharan's widow (now, the MLA from Vadakara) and consoled her under the glare of television cameras. That day, 6 June, was a crucial one, as a by-election was underway in Neyyattinkara. VS described Chandrasekharan as a 'courageous communist', unlike Vijayan's inhuman remark. By the time the 2014 Lok Sabha election got underway, the dissipation of the VS faction in the Kerala unit was complete, and the Alappuzha state conference in 2015 saw Vijayan's domination peak. Walk-out from Alappuzha conference When a charge sheet listing Achuthananthan's transgressions was read out by Vijayan while presenting the organisational report, and a number of delegates spoke out against the Marxist veteran in a seemingly orchestrated exercise, VS left the venue in a huff. He did not return, even after Kodiyeri Balakrishnan–who took over as state secretary in 2015–tried damage control by sending former loyalists and Pillai as emissaries, to pacify him. Many saw it as symbolic of the parting of ways, but the veteran knew that he wasn't expendable for the CPI (M) until the 2016 election was won. It also helped that Sitaram Yechury, who always had a soft corner for VS, replaced Karat as the party general secretary. In 2016, VS led the Left electoral campaign. The party used the 92-year-old as its mascot and, in a way, it was his way of paying back the CPI (M). Fittingly, the Left front registered a resounding 91-seat victory in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. His aura suffered a jolt when television cameras caught him handing over a note to Yechury at the swearing-in of Vijayan demanding his rehabilitation as chairperson of the Administrative Council with Cabinet rank. The appointment of his son Kumar as assistant director of The Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD) during his term as CM was another instance of the veteran failing to walk his lofty talk. Achuthanandan faded out from the public within a year of Vijayan's first term, even if he had promised to play the role of a Kavalal, or guard, in 2016. He wasn't keeping good health and did not campaign in 2019. The stroke VS suffered in 2020 along with the onset of Covid meant that he remained completely cut off from Kerala's public sphere. Single-minded pursuit, vengeance Achuthananthan never adopted a quid pro quo approach to political rivals, and was non-compromising in that respect. The antipathy did not necessarily affect personal equations, but he took the legal route to seek convictions in corruption cases. It was his personal crusade that ensured the conviction of Kerala Congress stalwart R. Balakrishna Pillai in the Edamalayar case, which, to this date, remains the only conviction of a Kerala politician in a corruption case. Former Kerala police chief Jacob Punnoose once revealed how Achuthanandan issued a verbal order to the then Crime Branch chief Vinson to arrest IUML's in the Ice-cream parlour scandal on the eve of the 2011 election. Paul had refused to carry out the order pending a written order from the CM. Like Chanakya's vow of vengeance, VS was known to exact vengeance on his rivals. He was as much a practitioner of realpolitik in the '80s and '90s as Pinarayi Vijayan is today. Apart from the infamous culling of the CITU faction, the way he dealt with even minor acts of defiance or indiscipline as state secretary would not tally with the public image that he is bestowed with today. CPI (M) stalwarts Pillai, A.P. Kurian, and even EMS Namboodiripad found themselves at the receiving end of Achuthanandan's disciplinary sword. It may not have led to political murders, but that is probably because VS hailed from Alappuzha and not Kannur. Achuthanandan was renowned for tit-for-tat political retorts. When Rahul Gandhi raked up his advanced age in the 2011 poll campaign, VS hit back at the Gandhi scion by dubbing him an 'Amul baby'. His war of words with Vijayan ran like a political soap opera for a decade. A theatrical orator, Achuthanandan had an electrifying effect on the audience. People came from far and wide to listen to his speeches. He had developed a distinct style of modulating words and sentences, which he attributed to his legacy of interactions with farm workers in Kuttanad. At the height of factionalism, even leaders firmly aligned to the Vijayan camp sought him out for their electoral campaigns. VS was a hero of the working class—unlike EMS Namboodiripad, born landlord calling himself the 'adopted son of the working class', or Vijayan, described by 'Berlin' Kunhanandan Nair as the 'adopted son of the capitalist class'. His reinvention from a hardliner to a mass leader to become a popular chief minister will always remain his abiding memory. Some politicians live long enough to become a villain or to witness their hard-earned legacy tarnished. In Achuthanandan's case, it may not be far-fetched to surmise that he hung around long enough to have political sainthood conferred upon him. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Nilambur isn't Kerala. UDF must look beyond Muslim votes to win 2026 polls
