Thiruvananthapuram,July 21,2025: Former Kerala chief minister and veteran CPM leader V S Achuthanandan passed away at the age of 101. Achuthanandan had been receiving treatment at a private hospital since last month following a cardiac arrest, had been in critical condition. The veteran CPI(M) leader was admitted in the hospital on June 23, 2025 after experienced breathing difficulties.
VS, as he was fondly known, was a symbol of resilience, integrity, and a century-long commitment to the working class in the State. The communist stalwart became a moral compass for the Left movement in India, and his life mirrored the evolution of communist politics in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said: “Saddened by the passing of former Kerala CM Shri V S Achuthanandan Ji. He devoted many years of his life to public service and Kerala’s progress. I recall our interactions when we both served as Chief Ministers of our respective states. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this sad hour.”
A towering figure in Kerala’s political landscape, Achuthanandan was a founding member of the CPM and served as the state’s Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.
V.S. Achuthanandan was that rare leader who represented three significant eras of communist history. Comrade VS began his political life during India’s freedom struggle. He was at the forefront of the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle, which symbolised the communist movement against British colonialism. He was also a frontline leader in the campaigns against the princely rule in Travancore and regressive social custom such as casteism. He rose to the leadership of the Communist Party by organising farm labourers and equipping them for a historic struggle.
Mr. Arlekar said that VS was a towering figure in Indian politics and a stalwart of the Communist movement and that his demise marks the end of an era in India’s Leftist political history.
Though often sidelined within his own party for his uncompromising stands, Achuthanandan earned mass appeal for his crusades against corruption, land mafias, and nepotism.
His tenure as Kerala’s Chief Minister (2006 – 2011) at the age of 82 was marked by bold actions, including the eviction of illegal encroachments in Munnar and a renewed push for development in the IT sector. Even in his 90s, he remained a rallying point for clean politics, drawing admiration across the political spectrum.
A founding leader of the CPI(M) after the 1964 split, he was instrumental in shaping the Party’s direction both in Kerala and at the national-level. As the 11th Chief Minister of Kerala, he earned acclaim for his firm actions against land encroachments, promotion of public education, anti-corruption measures, and environmental protection. He also served as Leader of the Opposition and chaired the Administrative Reforms Commission.
In early 2002, a stretch of verdant forestland in Kerala, rich in rare flora and fauna, was quietly being devoured by encroachers. Backed by political patronage, they cleared trees, started farming, and even stationed goons to block entry — all in one of the State’s most ecologically sensitive zones.
That forest was Mathikettan Shola, a crucial part of the Western Ghats ecosystem. But an unexpected act in 2002 changed its fate.
V.S. Achuthanandan, the then 78-year-old Leader of the Opposition, undertook a physically demanding trek into the encroached terrain. His journey, a symbolic yet resolute act, catalysed a historic environmental decision. Soon after, the Kerala government declared Mathikettan Shola, a national park.
V.S Achuthanandan was at the same time a ‘rebel’ from within and a leader who took his fight forward without breaching the boundaries of discipline set by the the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
