5 days ago
Leader of the masses comes home one last time
Kottayam: The final journey of V S Achuthanandan reached his birthplace, Punnapra, Alappuzha, on Wednesday — a return to the land where his political life first took root, where he organized historic struggles for working class communties and where he emerged as one of the leaders of the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising.
His mortal remains arrived at the Velikkakath House around 12.15 noon, more than 22 hours after leaving the state capital and well past the initially scheduled arrival time of 10pm on Tuesday. Ministers Saji Cherian and P Prasad received the funeral procession upon its arrival.
Despite steady rain, thousands of mourners gathered from early morning to pay their final respects to the departed leader. Long queues formed outside the house from 6am as people from across the state waited patiently.
The mortal remains were first taken inside for relatives to pay homage before being brought out for public viewing.
A Suresh, former personal assistant to V S, recalled how the veteran leader made it a point to visit this house twice every year. "He never missed being here for Onam, when he had the traditional sadhya and for the Punnapra-Vayalar anniversary in Oct," Suresh said. "Once here, V S would transform into a karanavar — the family patriarch.
A lot of visitors used to flock in, including neighbours, old friends and relatives.
" The house, he added, is more than a family home — it stands as a symbol and memorial of the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle. V S last visited in 2019 before failing health halted his travels.
Earlier in the day, the funeral procession entered Alappuzha district after 7am. Along the way, hundreds of people — men, women, and children — lined the roadsides to pay tribute.
The route passed through historically significant locations, evoking memories of a glorious past tied to the departed leader. Around 7.15am, it passed by in front of the KPAC headquarters in Kayamkulam — the iconic theatre movement that staged the play Ningal Enne Communist Aakki (You Made Me a Communist), a milestone in Kerala's political history.
A large crowd had gathered there, cutting across party lines, to honour the departed leader.
In Harippad, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala joined the crowd paying homage. The procession continued through Ambalappuzha, where V S first contested elections, with paddy farmers and fisherfolk gathering in large numbers. It also passed the symbolic Thottappally bridge, a symbol of Kuttanad farmers' struggles that V S championed.
Among those who paid their respects at the house were ministers R Bindu, K Krishnankutty, Maharashtra governor P Radhakrishnan, N K Premachandran MP, MLAs M V Govindan, H Salam, M S Arun Kumar, Mathew T Thomas, Mohammed Muhasin, P K Kunjalikutty, CPM general secretary M A Baby, senior CPM leader G Sudhakaran, Muslim League leader Panakad Sadikali Shihab Thangal, writer Benyamin, former MP MM Arif, former MLAs C K Sadasivan and K K Shaju.
At 2.40pm, the body was placed in a KSRTC bus for the journey to the CPM district committee office.
