The large traditional house in Anakallu in Avinisserry panchayat where VR Krishnan Ezhuthachan, Gandhian and freedom fighter once lived, is quiet now. The late Congress veteran's home had been a meeting place for Kerala's political leaders during the Independence struggle—a place where key decisions of the movement were taken . A recent attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state unit to outdo the Congress party by celebrating his legacy was widely seen as a move to appropriate his legacy.
It was also ironic since the BJP’s style of politics is starkly different from that of Ezhuthachan known for staunch secularism and Gandhian values, according to critics.
Born in Avinissery, Thrissur, VR Krishnan Ezhuthachan joined the freedom movement early, deeply inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, whom he met in 1925. He led student protests, took part in the Quit India movement, and served as an elected member of the Cochin Legislative Assembly. He was instrumental in founding the Cochin Prajamandal in 1941, which played a key role in the independence movement. He remained a guiding light for the Congress party in Kerala for decades.
Krishnan Ezhuthachan later stepped away from politics to work for the cooperative sector and social welfare. He also served as a mentor to leaders like the late K Karunakaran and was honored with awards including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award.
Till his death on May 13, 2004, Ezhuthachan was a loyal Congressman, an ardent secularist, and a committed Gandhian.
At the far end of the compound, behind the house, a simple tomb-like structure marks Ezhuthachan’s final resting place. Next to it was a newly planted coconut tree. Close to it stands a granite slab with an inscription: “This Kalpavriksha, planted by eminent film actor, honourable member of parliament Sri Bharath Suresh Gopi as Tribute Sanctum of Legendary National Freedom Fighter VR Krishnan Ezhuthachan on 21 November 2021.”
The planting of the coconut tree in 2021 and the event organised on his death anniversary this year were seen as an attempt by the BJP to lay claim to the legacy of a man who, throughout his life, remained firmly within the Congress-fold. The descendants of Krishnan Ezhuthachan have fondly kept an album containing photos of the visit of Suresh Gopi in 2021 to the house and tomb.
On May 13 this year on his 21st death anniversary, two events took place at Ezhuthachan’s home. At 8am in the morning Congress paid homage at the tomb, an event inaugurated by VM Sudheeran. An hour later BJP organised another memorial function at the same place.
The BJP's program stood out in grandeur, surpassing that of the Congress. The BJP had erected a stage within the house compound for their event, while the Congress held a more modest function at the Navathi Mandiram, where they paid homage and conducted their program.
BJP leader Sobha Surendran led a floral tribute and public memorial at the house, telling the gathering, “Congress forgets about its own leaders.” She even alleged that sidelined Congress leaders like VM Sudheeran and Ramesh Chennithala could see their families “join BJP” if not properly honoured.
VM Sudheeran, veteran Congress leader and also who considers Ezhuthachan as his guru, strongly condemned the BJP’s actions. “This year, BJP made an invasion,” he said. “They don’t even have the right to utter his name.”
Sudheeran said Ezhuthachan, one of Congress’s greatest leaders, spoke and lived against communalism. “He was a pure secularist,” he said.
He accused the BJP of distorting history. “Whether it was the Hindu Mahasabha or the RSS — they opposed the Quit India Movement. They were not part of the freedom struggle. They stood against Gandhi — and that is why they killed Gandhi.”
“This is BJP’s attempt to misguide the new generation. But it won’t work. People in Kerala know the truth. VR Krishnan Ezhuthachan’s legacy cannot be claimed by the BJP, which was always against his politics.”
Inside the ancestral home, Jayagovind, Ezhuthachan’s 83-year-old son and his wife Saradha narrated the legendary story of the freedom fighter sitting in the open verandah — once the site of intense political conversations. Behind the house lies the tomb, and just 200 meters away stands the VR Krishnan Ezhuthachan Navathi Samskarika Mandiram — a Congress office built on land donated by Ezhuthachan himself.
But the family today is no longer part of the Congress.
In 2015, Jayagovind joined the BJP.
“Maybe I was the first Congress leader in Kerala to join the BJP after Narendra Modi came to power,” he said, speaking from his home. “I was a Congress person till then. But I became a huge fan of Narendra Modi and that is why I joined the BJP.”
His wife Sarada said, “Achan (father) was a staunch Gandhian. Not just that he spoke about Gandhian principles — he followed them in his life too. He started the first school in Avinissery, the Khadi movement, and was also the editor of Deenabandhu newspaper. His legacy belonged to Congressmen.”
Jayagovind recalled how he met his father in Viyyur jail after his arrest during the freedom struggle. “I have this slight memory of my father inside the bars. I was angry about that then,” he recalled.
However both Saradha and Jayagovindan acknowledged the political shift in the family. “Jayagovindan was also a staunch Congressman till 2015. After that, he joined BJP and in the same year, contested in local elections,” Saradha said.
Jayagovind said he was close to Sudheeran. “I used to be a staunch Congress worker. But the party has weakened. Narendra Modi is a visionary leader, and my decision to join the BJP influenced many Congress supporters here. Most of them were loyal to my father and admired me too, but they saw a future in the BJP. That shift is evident in the current political climate—this is now a BJP stronghold,” he said,
And the impact has been visible. “Earlier, Avinissery was a Congress stronghold,” Sarada said. “But now BJP leads here. For this turn, Jayagovindan’s role is not small,” she said with clarity — but also made sure to add, “Our BJP entry has nothing to do with achan’s (father) Congress legacy.”
Avinissery was a panchayat Suresh Gopi specially focused before he won elections. One of his moves that helped the actor-politician bolster his image and the bond with local party workers in Thrissur was his decision to adopt Avinissery, a BJP-ruled panchayat in Thrissur, under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana in 2020.
He also allocated ₹1.5 crore from the MPLADS (Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) for its development. The funds were used to build an anganwadi and a day care home, install streetlights and high-mast lights, and improve road and drainage infrastructure.
A local Congress leader from Thrissur summed up the party’s helplessness: “The tomb is on private property. The family is BJP now. They decide who gets access and BJP knows how to use such moments. What mockery is it to plant a coconut tree and carve it on a stone?”
“Krishnan Ezhuthachan is the only figure that reminds Avinissery that it was the stronghold of Congress once and great congressmen lived here. They (BJP) want to steal that too. Sometimes we feel weak,” said a local congress worker seeking anonymity.
Justin Jacob, Thrissur district president of the BJP told media that the family of Krishnan Ezhuthachan now supports the BJP and they decided to pay him homage as he was a great freedom fighter.
The answer to the question on the ownership of his legacy could be found in VR Krishnan Ezhuthachan’s own words. He once wrote: “We proclaim and celebrate the unity of India. But at the same time, isn’t it true that most of us do not think of ourselves as Indians in our daily lives? We see ourselves as Hindus, Muslims, Christians — or as Malayalees, Maharashtrians, Bengalis. Even worse, we see ourselves as Brahmins, Jatts, Thakurs, Yadavs... We have become trapped within the narrow domestic walls of religion, language, caste, and region, and in doing so, we have distanced ourselves from the vision of a resurgent nation.”
Who owns Chettur Sankaran Nair
This isn’t the first time the BJP has been accused of trying to appropriate the legacy of Congress leaders. In Palakkad, the legacy of Chettur Sankaran Nair — the first Malayali president of the Indian National Congress — is now being claimed by the saffron party.
On April 24, his death anniversary, both BJP and Congress scheduled separate homage events at the Smrithi Mandapam near his ancestral home in Mankara. While Congress leaders assert that Chettur’s pioneering role — from presiding over the Congress in 1897 to serving as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and being part of the Viceroy’s Council — is an inseparable part of their party’s heritage, the BJP is making a visible bid to recast him as a nationalist icon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reference to Chettur during a rally in Yamunanagar on April 13 — the 106th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre — further underscored this shift. “This is the spirit of standing with humanity and the nation. That spirit is named Sankaran Nair,” Modi declared, hailing the Malayali leader’s bold move to sue the British over the massacre, despite being from Kerala and the incident occurring in Punjab.
The timing of Modi’s remarks, which came ahead of the release of Kesari 2, a film based on Chettur’s life, was not lost on political observers. Union Minister Suresh Gopi and senior BJP leader PK Krishnadas have since visited the memorial and met with Chettur’s descendants.