In VS, AKG’s legacy found a vigilant heir — someone who believed that parliamentary work was not just procedure, but a political battlefield.
Published Jul 22, 2025 | 9:16 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 22, 2025 | 9:16 AM
VS Achuthanandan
Synopsis: For VS Achuthanandan, the Kerala Assembly was not a ceremonial space; it was a battlefield. From the very beginning of his legislative career, VS stood out for bringing the pulse of the people directly into the Assembly hall.
In the corridors of Kerala’s legislative history, where rhetoric often echoed privilege, the voice of VS Achuthanandan entered like a storm in 1967 — grounded, burning with the pain of the oppressed, and unflinchingly Communist.
It was not just his maiden entry into the Assembly — it was the arrival of a conscience shaped by hunger, coir dust, and blood-soaked paddy fields. When VS made his debut in the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967, he wasn’t an ordinary freshman.
By then, he had already logged over 25 years in politics and public service, most of it in the rough trenches of class struggle.
He had worked closely with communities that were among the most neglected — coir workers, toddy tappers, fishers, coconut climbers, and other labouring classes who bore the brunt of hunger, exploitation, and social abandonment.
His first speech, delivered on 28 March 1967, during the budget session, was a vivid testament to this background.
“A section of the population in the coastal areas is still suffering from severe hunger,” he thundered, reminding the Assembly that 99 lakh coir workers had seen no change even two decades after independence. There was no high rhetoric or ornamental language — just a clear articulation of pain, and a plea for justice.
For VS, the Assembly was not a ceremonial space; it was a battlefield.
When the legendary AK Gopalan — popularly known as AKG — walked into the first Lok Sabha in 1952, even Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru couldn’t help but take note.
“The problems of the people will be heard in AKG’s speeches,” Nehru remarked, acknowledging the powerful presence of the Opposition leader.
For the Communist movement in India, AKG set the gold standard in parliamentary practice—relentless, sharp, and grounded in the everyday struggles of the people.
One leader who internalised and emulated that model with unwavering discipline was VS Achuthanandan. From the very beginning of his legislative career, VS stood out for bringing the pulse of the people directly into the Assembly hall.
Every speech, every intervention, and every question he raised echoed the lived realities of workers, farmers, and the oppressed. His style was not flamboyant, but it was effective.
VS was known for using every tool available — question hours, private resolutions, blank-hour slots, and public debates. — to highlight injustice. The Assembly records bear witness to this consistent commitment.
One such defining moment came on the night of 2 November 1970.
Four young women agricultural workers in Alappuzha’s Nehru Trophy ward were raped by policemen who were supposedly investigating a paddy field labour dispute. VS was informed that very night. True to his political instinct, he lost no time.
The very next day, he raised the issue in the Assembly, forcing the government to respond. His timely and fierce intervention shocked the House into action and brought the attention of the state to the brutal incident.
In VS, AKG’s legacy found a vigilant heir — someone who believed that parliamentary work was not just procedure, but a political battlefield.
For him, every minute in the Assembly was a chance to speak for those who rarely had a voice. His speeches may have started with a tremor, but they always ended in a reckoning. In an age of performative politics, VS remains a reminder of when Assembly speeches echoed hunger, not ambition.
In short, where others performed, VS protested.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
