Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader VS Achuthanandan, one of India's most respected Communist figures and a key presence in Kerala's political history, died on Monday at the age of 101, CPI-M state secretary MV Govindan said.
The veteran leader passed away at 3.20 pm while undergoing treatment in the critical care unit of Pattom SUT Hospital, according to an official bulletin issued by the hospital.
Achuthanandan had been receiving treatment since June 23, following a cardiac arrest.
A founding member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Achuthanandan was a lifelong champion of workers' rights, land reforms, and social justice.
He served as Kerala's chief minister from 2006 to 2011 and was elected to the state assembly seven times, serving three terms as Leader of the Opposition.
Speaking to reporters at the hospital, Govindan said Achuthanandan's body would be shifted to the AKG Study and Research Centre in Thiruvananthapuram within an hour, where party workers and the public could pay their respects.
Later on Monday night, the mortal remains will be taken to his house in Thiruvananthapuram. On Tuesday morning, the body will be kept at the Durbar Hall for the public to pay homage.
Afterwards, the body will be transported to his hometown, Alappuzha, on Tuesday afternoon.
"We expect to reach there by night," Govindan said, adding that people may gather along the way to catch a final glimpse of their beloved leader.
After a brief stop at the party's district headquarters in Alappuzha, Achuthanandan's cremation will take place at the public crematorium in Alappuzha Valiya Chudukadu by Wednesday noon.
Earlier in the day, following reports of his deteriorating health, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI-M leaders rushed to the hospital.
Born on October 20, 1923, in Punnapra, a coastal village in Alappuzha district, Achuthanandan's early life was marked by hardship and poverty.
He lost his mother at the age of four and his father while still in school, forcing him to abandon his studies after Class VII. He briefly worked in a textile shop and later as a labourer in a coir factory.
His political journey began in the 1940s, inspired by legendary Communist leader P Krishna Pillai.
In 1943, he represented Alappuzha at the Communist Party conference.
During the 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, he went underground and was later arrested and severely beaten. Believed to be dead by the police, he was about to be buried in the forest when it was discovered he was still alive and taken to the hospital.
Despite being tortured during the 1946 uprising, he returned to political activism. In 1956, he joined the party's state committee and steadily rose to hold key national positions.
In 1964, he was among the 32 national council members who split from the Communist Party to form the CPI-M, a pivotal moment in Indian Left politics.
He joined the party's central committee the same year and was inducted into the Politburo in 1985.
Achuthanandan became known for his integrity, sharp speeches in colloquial Malayalam, and firm stance against corruption, land grabs, and misuse of power.
Even in his later years, he remained immensely popular and widely respected for his dedication to ordinary people.
He built a reputation as a straight-talking, no-nonsense leader who consistently raised his voice on public issues--from environmental protection to women's rights.
At one point, he was removed from the Politburo for publicly criticising the party's official line. For Achuthanandan, ideology was not something he simply believed in--it was something he had lived through.
When the Left Democratic Front returned to power, he was denied the Chief Minister's post. The party, citing internal decisions, accused him of a "factionalist mindset" and chose Pinarayi Vijayan instead.
The relentless Communist who rose from the working class
Achuthanandan, a staunch Marxist known for his sharp rhetoric, anti-corruption stance, and unwavering commitment to social justice, was India's first communist leader from a working-class background to rise to the office of chief minister.
A founding figure in the CPI-M after the 1964 split in the undivided Communist Party, Achuthanandan's life in Kerala was defined by unrelenting struggle -- against the entrenched injustices of a caste and class-bound society, and against the creeping revisionism he saw within his own party.
He died at the age of 101 on Monday.
Whereas his peers -- EMS Namboodiripad, Jyoti Basu and EK Nayanar -- came from privileged, upper-caste families and were drawn to communism by its intellectual promise, Achuthanandan lived the inequality they fought.
Achuthanandan, affectionately known as Comrade 'VS' by party colleagues and even political opponents, led a life so eventful that he was once presumed dead and prepared for burial after being assaulted by police during a pre-Independence struggle for workers' rights -- only to survive, defy his attackers, and rise to become one of Kerala's most towering political figures.
On Monday, Achuthanandan died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
For over eight decades, he remained firmly on the side of workers, farmers and the poor-- his politics shaped by the fires of anti-colonial resistance, class struggle and the complicated, often turbulent path of the Indian Left.
Born on October 20, 1923 at Punnapra village in Alappuzha district, and educated up to Class VII, Achuthanandan's political awakening began early.
He entered public life through trade union activism and joined the State Congress in 1939, before embracing Marxism a year later by becoming a member of the Communist Party.
His political career was not without its cost. During the British rule and the turbulent post-Independence years, he endured five and a half years in prison and spent four and a half years underground to evade arrest.
In 1964, he was one of the 32 prominent leaders who broke away from the Communist Party of India to form the Communist Party of India-Marxist, or CPI-M, following an ideological rift.
His role in this defining moment remains a cornerstone of the CPI-M's identity in Kerala.
Achuthanandan served as the secretary of the CPI-M's Kerala State Committee from 1980 to 1992, helping to shape the party's strategy and mass base.
He was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly four times – in 1967, 1970, 1991, and 2001 – and twice served as the Leader of the Opposition, first from 1992 to 1996, and again from 2001 until 2005.
Despite setbacks, including intra-party disputes that defeated him in 1996 Assembly polls in his home turf Mararikulam which kept him from the chief minister's seat, VS remained a beloved and uncompromising leader of the Left.
Achuthanandan's journey, starting as a helper in a tailoring shop, transformed into a string of relentless battles, both within and outside his party, championing people's causes until he rose to the position of chief minister in the state in 2006.
As opposition leader, he led a strong campaign against land grabs and the real estate lobby, winning support from people across social and political backgrounds.
A fierce organiser within the CPI-M, Achuthanandan was never afraid of a fight -- not just with political opponents, but often with rivals inside his own party. Notable among them is politburo member and present CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
In the 1996 Kerala assembly elections, although the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front won, Achuthanandan lost in Mararikulam, a shock defeat in a constituency long seen as his stronghold.
The loss was widely blamed on behind-the-scenes moves by his rivals within the Marxist party.
Many political observers at the time wrote him off, saying his role in the party and in Kerala politics had come to an end, only to be proved wrong. He fought his way back, rebuilt his position within the party, and returned stronger and more popular than ever.
Achuthanandan's deep popularity among the public often placed his party in a difficult position.
Despite opposition from the powerful Kannur lobby in the party, led by Vijayan, the CPI-M was compelled to field him in the 2006 and 2011 assembly elections, thanks to strong grassroots support.
He went on to lead the LDF government from 2006 to 2011, even as some within his own party continued efforts to sideline him. His time in office was marked by a tough stance on corruption, a push for transparency, and a focus on welfare schemes aimed at helping ordinary people.
In the 2016 assembly elections, the CPI-M once again turned to Achuthanandan, presenting him as the face of its campaign. Despite his age, he travelled across the state with energy, delivering fiery speeches in his trademark style and rallying support for the Left.