VS: The Eternal Rebel
The spirit of rebellion has been the hallmark of VS Achuthanandan. Be it his role in organising the agricultural workers in Alappuzha or walking out of the CPI central committee meeting, along with 31 other members to form CPM in 1964, VS always made it a point to question reactionary elements. It is exceedingly challenging to identify any other leader in Indian Politics, particularly within the Communist Party, who never felt wrong about challenging the unjust decisions, even if they came from the party's top brass.
Aside from being an eloquent orator and a mass leader, VS is also renowned for his fearlessness in expressing unfiltered opinions and occasionally issuing severe criticism against even his fellow comrades. As a result, VS often faced criticism from within the party and had to face disciplinary actions more than any other senior CPM leader.
Veteran CPM leader first tasted the party's wrath in 1962 when he was demoted within the ranks for orchestrating a blood-donation campaign in support of Indian soldiers engaged in war against China, contrary to the party's official stance. During that period, he, along with other communist leaders, was incarcerated in Thiruvananthapuram District Jail on the grounds of being labelled as a 'Chinese spy'. VS took the initiative to organize political prisoners and proposed that they contribute by donating blood for the benefit of the injured Indian soldiers. This action was intended to alleviate the criticism faced by the party during the Indo-Chinese aggression.
Fast forward to 1998, VS executed the 'vettinirathal episode' at the CPM's Palakkad state conference, leading to a public censure by the party for fuelling factionalism. The CITU lobby, represented by CPM central committee members M.M. Lawrence, K.N. Ravindranath and V.B. Cherian, was defeated at the conference in a move spearheaded by VS as revenge for his defeat at the Mararikulam Assembly seat in 1996.
At the onset of the 21st century, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala encountered a multitude of factionalism within the party, stemming from the longstanding feud between the current Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, and VS Achuthanandan.
Later, in 2006, when VS was the Chief Minister, CPM Politburo publicly censured him for openly criticizing his fellow cabinet ministers Thomas Issac and Paloli Mohammed Kutty for the decision to avail loan from the Asia Development Bank (ADB). A year later, the rift with Vijayan took a drastic turn after both leaders were suspended from the Politburo.
In 2012, VS Achuthanandan embarked on a mission to support the anti-nuclear protesters at Kudankulam despite the contrary stance of the CPM on the issue. As a result, he was subjected to criticism from the CPM leadership. A year later, the party reprimanded VS for comparing Vijayan's conduct to that of S.A. Dange, who was responsible for a schism in the Communist Party in 1964.
In 2012, VS caused a stir by visiting the residence of the late T. P. Chandrasekharan, leader of the Revolutionary Marxist Party and the victim of political murder. During his visit, VS made a statement indicating that the state leadership of his political party bore some responsibility for the heinous crime. CPM publicly censured him in July of the same year.
Eventually, the VS-Pinarayi feud came to an epic finale in 2015 when the veteran communist leader surprisingly staged a walkout from the CPM state conference in Alappuzha in protest against the scathing criticism unleashed against him. His walkout came minutes after Vijayan announced the state secretariat had passed a resolution denouncing Achuthanandan for 'anti-party' activities.
Despite the criticisms and disciplinary measures taken against him, both his ardent detractors and the party itself could not refute the significance of a leader of VS's calibre in the public sphere. CPM knew the relevance and significance of VS, and they had to turn towards the veteran leader to lead the party in the 2016 Kerala state assembly elections.