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 Velikkakathu
Sankaran Achuthanandan, (20 October 1923 – ) is the
twentieth Chief Minister of Kerala state, India. He has been
a Politburo member of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
(CPI(M)) since 1985 and is popularly known as "Comrade VS".
Early life
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. He lost his mother when he was just four
years old and father at 11 years. This forced him to give up
his studies after finishing 7th standard in school . He
started working by helping his elder brother in a tiny
village cloth shop. Later he took up the job of meshing coir
to make ropes at a coir factory.
Political Life
He entered into
the world of politics through Trade Union activities and
joined State Congress in 1938. Like many young men of his
age, he became disillusioned with the policies of the
Congress and became a member of the Communist Party of India
(CPI) in 1940. He was imprisoned for five years and six
months during Freedom Struggle period and has gone
under-ground for four and half years in his decades old
political career. 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. He was a state secretartiate memeber of the CPI in
1957. He is probably the most liked political leader in
Kerala now.
Achuthanandan
has the public image of a honest politician and has
generally stayed clear of controversy. However, the
anti-reclamation stir launched by the Kerala State Karshaka
Thozhilali Union (KSKTU) at Mancombu in 1996-97, inaugrated
by Achuthanandan, earned the sobriquet`vettinirathal samaram'
following the violent methods and crop destruction resorted
to by the KSKTU cadre. The stir generated lot of public
criticism and Mr. Achuthanandan expressed his disapproval of
any further destruction of crops.The recent decision of his
government to ban coca-cola and pepsi in Kerala has proved
controversial, even though the measure had tremendous public
support. The Indian Soft Drinks Manufacturers’ Association
claimed that its products manufactured in India met every
safety standard set by food, health and regulatory bodies in
India and abroad.The Indian governement later stated that
the findings of an NGO that the soft drink samples taken
from the two companies contained higher than permissible
limits of pesticide, were erroneous and inconclusive. This
findng had led to the ban. Achuthanandan government's
decision to log Microsoft out of Kerala schoolsproved
controversial with critics stating that the decision should
have been left with the schools themselves.
Punnapra-Vayalar
Uprising
He was very
active in the famous Punnapra-Vayalar uprising and led the
farmers to root out evils faced by them.
Leadership
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 gained a huge
popular support during his stint as the opposition leader in
2001-2006 Legislative Assmebly. He took active personal
interests in making visits to even the remotest of places,
where ever he believed that the ruling government was not
doing things in a right fashion, or done in an outright
dishonest way.
Assembly
Elections, 2006
During the
assembly elections held in Kerala in April-May 2006, VS
Achuthanandan defeated Satheesan Pacheeni of the
United Democratic Front by a large margin of 20,017 votes in
Malampuzha constituency in Palghat district. It has been
said that with this win VS successfully countered the
accusation that when the party wins VS loses, and if VS
wins the party loses.
It should be
noted that when the prospective candidate list for CPI(M)
was published (for the elections of 2006), the name of
Achuthanandan was conspiciously absent. This created an
uproar across the state, and processions and protests were
held in support of Achuthanandan. The Polit Bureau finally
succumbed to the pressure, and decided to field VS from
Malampuzha.
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 18th May, 2006 as the twentieth Chief
Minister of Kerala.
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