Fearless Commissar

Left politics has given this country many a stalwart, and one entered his 100th year this October 23.

- Jeemon Jacob

Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan (VS), the former Kerala chief minister and only surviving member of the 32 founders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or the CPI(M), achieved the distinction quietly, surrounded by family members in state capital Thiruvananthapuram. A stroke in October 2019 has robbed the veteran Communist of voice, and movement, and fear of infection has restricted the entry of visitors. But eager wellwishers wait outside every morning to catch a glimpse of their leader when he sits in the verandah of his son's house. In hometown Punnapra in Alappuzha district, a flex was raised to greet him on his birthday and kheer distributed to mark the occasion. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan sent his wishes, so did Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, with whom VS has had a difficult relationship over the years.