Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan (20 October 1923 – 21 July 2025), known as VS, was an Indian communist leader who was Chief Minister of Kerala from 2006 to 2011. A child labourer who left school after the seventh class, he was one of the thirty-two leaders who walked out of the Communist Party of India’s national council in 1964 to found the CPI(M), and was the last of them to survive. For decades he was the most popular mass leader of the left in Kerala, known for campaigns against corruption, land grabbing and environmental damage.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan |
| Born | 20 October 1923, Punnapra, Alappuzha district, Kerala |
| Died | 21 July 2025 (aged 101), Thiruvananthapuram |
| Party | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Offices | Chief Minister of Kerala (18 May 2006 – 14 May 2011); Leader of the Opposition (three terms); Secretary, CPI(M) Kerala (1980–1992) |
| Spouse | K. Vasumathi |
| Children | 2 |
Early Life
He was born at Punnapra, a coastal village in the Alappuzha region, into a poor Ezhava family. His mother died of smallpox when he was four and his father when he was eleven. He had to leave school and went to work in his elder brother’s tailoring shop, and then in a coir factory, where he joined the union.
The communist organiser P. Krishna Pillai noticed him and sent him to organise the farm labourers of Kuttanad, who worked the waterlogged rice fields for landlords under conditions close to bondage. He joined the Communist Party in 1940.
Punnapra-Vayalar
In October 1946 workers in the Alappuzha area rose against the plan of the Dewan of Travancore to keep the princely state independent of India under an “American model” constitution. Hundreds were killed when the army and police fired on camps at Punnapra and Vayalar. Achuthanandan, an organiser of the camps, was arrested soon afterwards and tortured in the lock-up; a bayonet was driven through the sole of his foot, and he was left for dead. He spent more than five years of his life in prison and several more underground.
Party Leader
He rose through the party in Alappuzha, joined its national council and in 1964 left with the group that formed the CPI(M). He was the party’s state secretary from 1980 to 1992 and a member of its politburo from 1985. He was elected to the Assembly seven times, first in 1967, and was Leader of the Opposition from 1992 to 1996 and again from 2001.
It was in opposition, in his late seventies, that he became a popular hero. He travelled to the sites of disputes over encroached forest land, sand mining, the pollution of rivers and the reclamation of paddy fields, pursued corruption cases through the courts for years, and spoke up for the victims in cases of sexual exploitation. His clipped, sing-song way of speaking was imitated by every comedian in the state.
Chief Minister
The party leadership, with which he had long been at odds, initially denied him a seat in 2006 and gave way after protests by its own workers. The Left Democratic Front won, and he was sworn in on 18 May 2006 at eighty-two. His government demolished illegal resorts at Munnar, acted against the lottery and land mafias, promoted free and open-source software in schools and government, and backed the information technology parks. His term was also marked by an open feud with the state secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, which led to his removal from the politburo in 2009. In 2011 the front lost by a very narrow margin.
Later Years
He was Leader of the Opposition until 2016 and led the campaign that brought the front back to power, at ninety-two; the chief ministership went to Vijayan, and he was made chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission. A stroke in 2019 ended his public life. He died in Thiruvananthapuram on 21 July 2025. Vast crowds lined the road for the whole journey of more than 150 kilometres to Alappuzha, where he was cremated beside the memorial to the dead of Punnapra-Vayalar.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was V. S. Achuthanandan born?
V. S. Achuthanandan was born on 20 October 1923 in Punnapra, Alappuzha district, Kerala.
When did V. S. Achuthanandan die?
Died: 21 July 2025 (aged 101), Thiruvananthapuram.
Featured image: V. S. Achuthanandan campaigning at Ponkunnam, April 2016. Photo by Praveenp, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
