Obituary: Gentle and approachable, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was a troubleshooter for the CPI(M) and its government in Kerala

But when the party and its ideology were attacked, Kodiyeri led the counterattack without hesitating to switch to inflammatory speeches and appeals to take up arms.

He courted controversy on many occasions for stating from public platforms that the party would not hesitate to make bombs inside police stations and avenge those who plotted to murder his cadres.

A binding factor

For the ruling LDF and the two governments it formed under Vijayan, Kodiyeri was the binding factor. As CPI(M) state secretary, he effectively coordinated between the chief minister, ministers, party leaders and alliance partners.

His diplomatic skills ably helped the party avert crises on numerous occasions when allies in the ruling coalition and the government found themselves on a collision course.

Kodiyeri was the commander-in-chief and principal troubleshooter for the rough-and-tough Vijayan. His outwardly-democratic approach helped the chief minister stave off severe political crises on many occasions.

Though the numerous allegations his two sons faced over the years affected Kodiyeri’s political growth, he remained a natural mass leader who enjoyed popularity across the length and breadth of the state.

Regarded as one of the towering politicians in Kerala, Kodiyeri was a member of CPI(M)’s highest decision-making body, the Politburo.

Kodiyeri’s rich legacy

His legacy includes the able handling of key portfolios such as home and tourism in the VS Achuthanandan-led LDF government of 2006-2011. Between 2001-2004 and 2011-2016, he remained deputy leader of the Opposition, with Achuthanandan as Opposition leader.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan with Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor. (KB Jayachandran/South First)

Despite being a close confidant of Vijayan and one of the top leaders of the faction under him in the party, Kodiyeri maintained a harmonious relationship with Achuthanandan and others who always believed that the party under Vijayan “compromised its revolutionary values and remained subservient to capitalist forces”.

Even when the CPI(M) state conference was held in Kochi in March this year, the party had no option other than Kodiyeri for the state secretary’s post. Ignoring his pleas that it was time to retire — citing cancer and other diseases — the party opted for him for a third consecutive term.

When he wanted to go to the US for cancer treatment, the party chose to give him temporary leave by making A Vijayaraghavan the acting secretary.

But in recent weeks, when his health deteriorated, the post was finally handed over to MV Govindan, another strongman from Kannur and local affairs minister in the second Vijayan Cabinet.

Humble origins, student politics

Born and brought up in Kodiyeri village in the northern coastal town of Thalassery, Kodiyeri represented the area in the state Assembly five times: 1982, 1987, 2001, 2006 and 2011.

A loyal member of the party, Kodiyeri had no break from the intense party affairs. Following a party decision, he married SR Vinodini, daughter of former Thalassery MLA MV Rajagopal.

After schooling in Thalassery, Kodieri finished his pre-degree at Mahatma Gandhi College in Mahe and graduated from the University College in Thiruvananthapuram. Like most of his contemporary leftists in Kerala, Kodiyeri began his political career in the students’ movement.

He entered politics by setting up a Kerala Students’ Federation (KSF) unit, the early version of the present Students Federation of India (SFI), at Oniyan Government High School and becoming its secretary. At that time, he was a Class IX student.

In 1970, Kodiyeri became a CPI(M) member and was elevated to the organisation’s Eengayil Peedika branch secretary’s post. In the same year, he was elected as the chairman of the Mahatma Gandhi College Union.

Jailed during Emergency

During the days of the internal Emergency in 1975-77, Kodiyeri was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) at Kannur Central Prison for 16 months.

In the 1980s, Kodiyeri became the most vocal face of CPI(M)’s youth wing, the DYFI, in Kerala. In 1998, he became a State Committee member of the party. The party congress held in 2002 in Hyderabad elevated him to the Central Committee of CPI(M). In 2008, the Coimbatore party congress inducted him into the Politburo.

On February 23, 2015, he took over the post of party state secretary from Vijayan and continued in the post till 2022. He had also worked with party organisations dealing with farmers and agricultural workers.

The major stumbling blocks Kodiyeri faced in his political career were related to his two sons.

Kodiyeri and sons

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan with fellow LDF leaders. (KB Jayachandran/South First)

His younger son Bineesh flung petrol bombs at a police jeep in 2001, and a lengthy trial created uneasiness in Kodiyeri when he became the home minister in 2006.

Bineesh also put Kodiyeri on the defensive in 2003 when he attacked an armed reserve police camp in Thiruvananthapuram to free some of his SFI comrades.

Just before the 2020 elections, Bineesh was implicated in a narcotics scandal, and the party struggled to establish that a father could not be held responsible for the son’s misdeeds.

But a few years before that, the father had pulled Bineesh out of a police jeep after the cops arrested him for participating in an agitation.

Elder son Binoy created headlines for his out-of-court settlement in a sexual abuse case in Mumbai and a multi-crore financial embezzlement case in Dubai. The celebrity-like life of the sons of a leader of a working-class party often created heated political discussions in the state.

In 2007, his wife performed a “poomoodal” ritual at Malappuram’s famous Kadampuzha temple for his well-being as home minister and to eliminate his enemies.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at a public meeting. (KB Jayachandran/South First)

Kodiyeri had a lot of explaining to do on why a wife sought divine intervention on behalf of her atheist husband, who was also a top Marxist leader.

Despite all these controversies, the people in Kerala loved and respected Kodiyeri. He is, perhaps, better liked than Vijayan.

Kodiyeri was always accessible and remained a down-to-earth person. When Vijayan once shouted “Get Out” to approaching journalists on the sidelines of a meeting, Kodiyeri looked genuinely remorseful beside the chief minister.

In his death, the CPI(M) lost one of its most formidable leaders.