Veteran communist leader and former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan passed away at the age of 101 while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. Serving as Kerala’s Chief Minister between 2006 and 2011, he gradually stepped away from public life after suffering a mild stroke in 2019 and spent his later years under the care of his son.

Achuthanandan was born in 1923 in the village of Punnapra in Alappuzha district, into a humble farming household. Drawn to politics at an early age, he joined India’s freedom movement at just 16, inspired by the fiery speeches of communist icon P. Krishna Pillai. A key architect in the formation of the CPI in 1964, he remained a staunch voice of the Left and endured imprisonment during the Emergency, emerging as one of Kerala’s most resilient political figures.

Known for his strong stance in politics, he was removed from the CPI politburo in 2009 for defying party orders. His death has been widely mourned.