For years they had watched from close quarters how V S Achuthanandan acted as the state’s Chief Minister, Opposition leader and a politician. Among the mourners who assembled at the Secretariat Durbar hall on Tuesday were his advisors, security guards, gunman and cops who served in his escort vehicles.

Joseph C Mathew, who had been his advisor in matters related to Information Technology, leaned against the pillar of the Durbar Hall. An otherwise articulate man, who was never seen short of words, was struggling to speak at the AKG Centre on Monday night. As the crowd swarmed in front of the foyer of Durbar Hall, he sat silently, almost heaving forward under an unspeakable weight. He acknowledged anyone who approached him with a dull smile almost saying ‘I would like to sit here alone for a while’.

It was here that Achuthanandan had convened numerous meetings that would trigger groundbreaking decisions.

K Gopi, who had been Achuthanandan’s gunman for a very long period, kept placing his arms over the badge carrying the picture of VS. He had it pinned to his pocket, securely. Gopi just wasn’t sure though. It was Gopi who had rushed Achuthanandan to hospital when he met with an accident near Mangalore once. “Those were eventful years. We were returning from a funeral at Mangalore when our car rammed into a truck. The door came off and VS was hurled onto the road. I was unconscious for a while. When I woke up, I saw VS and his son Arun lying on the road. I waved at many vehicles. At last one car stopped and he was rushed to the hospital. VS sustained a fracture in his shoulder then,” said Gopi. He had been a civil police officer at Kattakada police station and once he became Achuthanandan’s gunman, he was with him till his last tenure as the Chief Minister.

Gopi recollects how VS would embark on perilous journeys in Idukki and many places once he was convinced that there was some wrongdoing. “Some of the paths would be scary, but VS had no second thoughts,” said Gopi. For the past few weeks, Gopi regularly turned up at SUT hospital hoping that his former CM would recover.

It was equally challenging for cops who were deputed in escort vehicles. “What really struck us was the way he connected with the people. He came across as a very serious person but he simply drew people to him,” said N Divakaran, who was part of his escort vehicle. He retired as a circle inspector in 2020.

Emotions ran high for those men and they didn’t hide it. Other people lined up along the roads that stretched on either side of the Secretariat. They were patient as the queue moved smoothly. Mohanachandran, a party member since 1970, had been witness to factionalism and internal tussle within the party. “I would never blame VS. For people like us, party comes first”. He was in charge of preparing the venue of the 13th party congress in Thiruvananthapuram in 1988-89. It was the first time Thiruvananthapuram hosted the party congress. VS, a strict disciplinarian, held a meeting with the party members who were entrusted with organisational duties. “I was the captain of the red volunteers. We thought that he would not listen to people like us. But he was very attentive and shared our feedback in the meeting of senior leaders. He had a way to accommodate everyone,” said Mohanachandran, a native of Pangode.

Five hours on, the air was heavy with gloom at Secretariat. It was time for the funeral procession. Slowly, streets on either side were brimming with people, holding flowers in their arms, waiting to pay tribute to their dear comrade.