‘VS’ means a lot to the people of Kerala. The two letters immediately called to mind an ardent communist, a fighter who challenged monarchy and feudalism and an activist who lived up to the title of his autobiography, ‘Life is a Struggle’. VS Achuthanandan rose from the lower rungs of society to become the chief minister of Kerala and was among the most charismatic of public speakers.

Achuthanandan was born to Akkamma and Velikkakathu Sankaran at Paravur near Punnapra in Alappuzha on October 20, 1923. He took after his father’s rebellious attitudes. He was influenced by the horror stories from the then princely state of Travancore where feudalism and untouchability made life hell for ordinary people.

Achuthanandan was not one to let things pass. As a boy, he had to pass through an area dominated by upper-caste people to reach his school. One day, some of the local boys insulted him using his caste name. The infuriated lad bashed up his tormentors. Back home, he expected his father to chide him for the brawl, but his father did not say anything.

The next morning, his father presented him with a thick metal waistband that would double as a weapon. The upper-caste boys were waiting for Achuthanandan to get even. Achuthanandan made good use of his gift. That fighting spirit would lead him through his political career.

Achuthanandan was four when his mother died of smallpox. At 11, his father died. Elder brother Gangadharan became the head of the family. Achuthanandan dropped out of school in class 7. He did not have any money to buy books. He joined his brother in the tailoring shop they inherited from their father. The tailoring shop acted as a school of political education for the brothers.

The shop became a meeting point for people who talked about the freedom movement, feudalism and the imminent revolt. The young Achuthanandan was all fired up. He joined the proscribed communist party at 17. When he took up a job in the Aspinwall coir factory, it was natural for him to transform into a trade unionist to resist the anti-labour activities of the management.

After work, he would join the party study classes, led by legends such as P Krishna Pillai, R Sugathan and C Unni Raja. Three years later, Achuthanandan was selected as a delegate from Alappuzha in the party’s first state committee meeting in Kozhikode. He came in contact with several senior leaders. After the conference, Krishna Pillai wanted the young revolutionary to quit the job at the coir factory and become a full-time party worker to organise farmers and farm labourers.

Soon, Achuthanandan showed his mettle as a seasoned labour activist in Kuttanad, where farm labourers were forced to work for a handful of rice as wages. The landlords squeezed them further by measuring the rice in smaller cups.

Achuthanandan persuaded the labourers to protest the malpractice after the day’s work. The workers refused to accept the rice and raised slogans. After four days, the landlords offered to talk. They were forced to pay the real wages after the workers and their leaders warned of legal action.

The agitation gradually spread to Punnapra, Paravur and Kalarkode. The movement took a violent turn after landlords beat up workers at Pallathuruthi. An eight-member Agricultural Workers’ Committee was formed to spearhead the protests. The organisation later became the Travancore Karshaka Thozhilali Union and the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU).

The firebrand labour leader was sought after by workers from across the region. Those were the days of popular resistance against diwan CP Ramaswami Iyer’s proposal to bring an “American model” rule in Travancore. The police targeted Communist party leaders who spoke against the reforms. Sugathan, KV Pathrose, Sreekandan Nair and Simon Asan were arrested after a public meeting in Alappuzha. Achuthanandan was among the speakers but he managed to evade the police as per the party’s direction.

Achuthanandan went to Kottayam as directed by the party. He was assigned to the hilly area of Poonjar. After two weeks, however, he returned to Alappuzha, where the police had unleashed a reign of terror. The party banded together fighters, including former soldiers, to resist the repression in Ambalappuzha, Cherthala, Punnapra and Kalarkode. The volunteers were trained in guerrilla warfare. They were armed only with wooden spears. Achuthanandan and other young leaders were tasked with imparting political education to the volunteers.

Achuthanandan was in charge of three camps of 400 volunteers each in Punnapra and Kalarkode. The police had stepped up their repressive regime, going to workers’ houses and forcing them to hail the diwan and his reforms. Anyone who objected was sent to jail.

On October 23, 1946, the Travancore king celebrated his feast day by opening more police stations and camps. The party responded fiercely, raising the slogan, ‘Throw the American model into the Arabian Sea.’ Hundreds of people turned up to protest the opening of more police camps. When Achuthanandan went to the Punnapra camp of volunteers, the party asked him to go into hiding as a warrant had been issued against him. He went to the house of a party member at Karimbavu Valavil.

As the workers’ protest reached the police camp, Inspector Velayudhan Nadar ordered his men to shoot at the protesters. The workers aimed their sears at the armed policemen. Almost 50 of them were shot down. At least 10 cops died. One of the workers chopped off the inspector’s head.

Achuthanandan was arrested on October 28 from Poonjar. He was subjected to brutal torture in the police station. He was shut in a lock-up and his legs were pulled out through the iron bars. The cops tied a baton on his legs so that he could not pull them into the lockup. While some cops trod on the prisoner with their boots, the others lashed his feet from outside. A policeman stabbed Achuthanandan’s feet with the bayonet of his gun. The prisoner lay unconscious in a pool of blood.

The police left Achuthanandan for dead. They decided to dump his body in a nearby patch of forest. A petty thief was ordered to take away the body in the police jeep. Inside the jeep, Kolappan sensed that Achuthanandan was alive. He persuaded the cops to take the prisoner to a hospital in Pala. Achuthanandan was to regret not having met his saviour after that day.

Achuthanandan was released in February 1948. He would carry the scar created by the bayonet throughout his life. The same feet carried him through the nooks and crannies of Kerala as he made himself the champion of people’s issues.

Achuthanandan was the last surviving founding member of the CPM in Kerala. He did not have it easy. His parliamentary career was tortuous. When he won an election, the party was voted out of power. When the party came to power, he mysteriously lost.

He merged environmental issues with politics. He became an active opposition leader before being elevated to the chief minister post. He always courted controversies. He considered the party his strength as well as weakness. He inspired a generation, irrespective of the controversies he was a part of.