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Kerala witnessed a poignant and historic farewell as thousands of people poured into the streets to pay their last respects to VS Achuthanandan, one of the last surviving titans of India’s communist movement and a former Chief Minister of the state. Achuthanandan, who passed away on July 21 at the age of 101, was not just a political leader, he was a symbol of Kerala’s enduring struggles for justice, land reform, and people’s rights.
His final journey, a 150-km-long funeral procession from Thiruvananthapuram to Alappuzha, unfolded like a people’s march, echoing the mass movements he once led. Beginning at the state Secretariat around 2.30 pm on Tuesday, July 22, the flower-decked bus carrying his mortal remains moved at a slow pace as citizens, party workers, and supporters lined the roads — many standing in the rain, some waiting through the night — to pay tribute to a leader who had spent over seven decades in public life.
From the frontlines of the historic Punnapra-Vayalar uprising in the 1940s to his tenure as Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011, Achuthanandan’s life was marked by fearless opposition to authoritarianism and unwavering commitment to the marginalized. As CM, he led campaigns against corruption, real estate encroachment, and launched initiatives in IT, health, and education. His land reform campaigns as Opposition leader and later CM won him the love of farmers and workers alike.
The funeral convoy took over nine hours just to exit Thiruvananthapuram district, reaching only Mangalapuram — 22 km away — by 9 pm. Across Kollam and Alappuzha, party units and local communities set up shelters, screens, and stages to accommodate the thousands who came to bid him farewell. Despite torrential rains and traffic disruptions due to highway work, the crowds never waned.
As the procession reached Kayamkulam on Wednesday morning, it entered Achuthanandan’s home district, where 12 designated halt points were arranged for the public to pay homage. The final stretch will see the body taken to his residence in Punnapra before cremation with full state honours at the Valiyachudukadu burial ground — the resting place of the martyrs of the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, a struggle that shaped his political life.