E. K. Nayanar
Encyclopedia
Erambala Krishnan Nayanar (December 9, 1919 - May 19, 2004) was a prominent India
n political leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
. He held the post of Chief Minister
of Kerala
three times; during 1980-81, 1987–91 and 1996-2001. He is the longest serving Chief Minister of Kerala, having been in office for a total of 4009 days, spanning 11 years. He was a member of the Politburo of CPI(M).
(present-day Kerala
) (exactly in Kalliasseri
(Erumbala Tharavad) in Kannur
district), at a time when the Congress
was considered by the authorities as a recruiting ground for subversives, and the communist movement was growing in the country. His father Govindan Nambiar was a believer in the feudal way of life, and would often fly into a rage when the young Nayanar began to frequently don the Gandhi cap as a student volunteer enticed into the national movement by his close relatives, most prominently,his uncle's son the late communist leader K.P.R. Gopalan.
Nayanar played an ardent role in the student and youth movements in his native Kalliasseri
village. He dropped out of school in his final year, as his political activity began to demand much of his time, even running away from home for a brief time when his father physically hit him up for participating in an anti-liquor agitation. The event made him enter politics full time. By the late 1930s, Nayanar had become an active member of the student and farm workers' movements in Malabar and was led into the socialist path by prominent leaders like P. Krishna Pillai
.
-Cheemeni areas of Kasaragod district, even while trying to escape detection by the police. A strong movement had grown in a short period of time against the feudal system. A head constable who tried to abuse and beat up some activists leading a demonstration was stoned by party workers. The constable jumped into the river Tejaswini and drowned. The police then violently pursued the communists at Kayyur
. Nayanar and a few of his friends escaped to the forests of East and West Eleri areas.(Later when he became the chief minister, he proposed a Government College in the very same area he spent many years in hiding. The Government college Elerithattu
was established in 1981. The college was renamed to E.K.Nayanar Memorial Government college, Elerithattu
). Nayanar was listed as the third accused in the case, though he was not directly involved in the particular incident. Four other accused in the case were sentenced to death. He continued to work for the party incognito until 1946, when the new provincial government decided to drop the case.
(south Kerala) where, masquerading (initially) as a proof reader in a prominent Malayalam newspaper, Kerala Kaumudi, he organised party activities from Thiruvananthapuram
to Kanyakumari and later in Kottayam
and Alappuzha
. Nayanar devoted boundless energy to the communist cause and rose in the Communist Party of India
(CPI), becoming the Kannur taluk secretary in 1948 and the Kozhikode district secretary in 1955. In most of his media interviews, Nayanar reminded everyone in his inimitable naughty style: "Does (Chief Minister) A.K. Antony know every panchayat in Kerala? He does not. But I know every village in this State like the back of my hand. There is no place where I have not been in hiding from the police."
Nayanar was a member of the national council and State executive of the undivided CPI. When the party split in 1964, he was among the 32 members who walked out of the CPI national council to form the CPI(M). He was a member of the central committee of the CPI(M) from the 7th Congress in 1964. He was elected to the Polit Bureau at the 14th Congress in 1992. He served as the secretary of the Kerala state committee of the CPI(M) from 1972 to 1980 and again from 1992 to 1996.
In 1967 he was elected to Lok Sabha
from Palghat (now Palakkad). He was elected to Kerala Assembly six times. Among the legislative constituencies he won from were Irikkur, Malampuzha, Thrikkaripur and Thalassery
.
He became the Chief Minister of Kerala
for the first time on January 25, 1980. His term ended in 1981. He served a four-year term starting from 1987 and a full five-year term in 1996.
He was a capable journalist having edited the Deshabhimani daily and written innumerable articles in regular columns. Nayanar died on May 19, 2004 in New Delhi
following a pneumonia
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n political leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
. He held the post of Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
three times; during 1980-81, 1987–91 and 1996-2001. He is the longest serving Chief Minister of Kerala, having been in office for a total of 4009 days, spanning 11 years. He was a member of the Politburo of CPI(M).
Early life
He was born into wealth and privilege in British-ruled MalabarMalabar District
Malabar District was an administrative district of Madras Presidency in British India and independent India's Madras State. The British district included the present-day districts of Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad , and Chavakad Taluk of Thrissur District in the northern part of...
(present-day Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
) (exactly in Kalliasseri
Kalliasseri
Kalliasseri is a census town in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala.-Demographics: India census, Kalliasseri had a population of 25005 and the projected population for 2010 is 28,066. Males constitute 47% of the population and females 53%...
(Erumbala Tharavad) in Kannur
Kannur
Kannur , also known as Cannanore, is a city in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the District of Kannur and 518km north of state capital Trivandrum. During British rule in India, Kannur was known by its old name Cannanore, which is still in...
district), at a time when the Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
was considered by the authorities as a recruiting ground for subversives, and the communist movement was growing in the country. His father Govindan Nambiar was a believer in the feudal way of life, and would often fly into a rage when the young Nayanar began to frequently don the Gandhi cap as a student volunteer enticed into the national movement by his close relatives, most prominently,his uncle's son the late communist leader K.P.R. Gopalan.
Early Political Life
Nayanar would say later that among the events that made a deep impression on him at that time was the commotion at home and his village following the admission of a Dalit girl into the local family-run school at the behest of K.P.R. Gopalan and his compatriots. Nayanar famously helped in the establishment of a library and named it 'Shri Harshan Library', after Harshan, a member of the oppressed caste who was tortured to death at the Kannur Central Jail for his participation in the national movement.Nayanar played an ardent role in the student and youth movements in his native Kalliasseri
Kalliasseri
Kalliasseri is a census town in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala.-Demographics: India census, Kalliasseri had a population of 25005 and the projected population for 2010 is 28,066. Males constitute 47% of the population and females 53%...
village. He dropped out of school in his final year, as his political activity began to demand much of his time, even running away from home for a brief time when his father physically hit him up for participating in an anti-liquor agitation. The event made him enter politics full time. By the late 1930s, Nayanar had become an active member of the student and farm workers' movements in Malabar and was led into the socialist path by prominent leaders like P. Krishna Pillai
P. Krishna Pillai
P. Krishna Pillai was a Communist revolutionary from Kerala, India, Kerala's First Communist, Founder of the Communist movement in Kerala, and poet....
.
Aaron Mill Protest
Nayanar became known as a political organiser soon after he was put in charge of the workers of the Aaron Mill in Kannur district. He was entrusted with the job of organising the mill workers in secret but the union's activities became public and the management dismissed about 30 workers. What followed was an indefinite strike by the workers seeking reinstatement of their colleagues and demanding more concessions. The 46-day-long agitation was led by Nayanar locally, with support from Krishna Pillai and the A.K. Gopalan. Rallies of farmers carrying farm produce were held to help the starving families of the agitating mill workers. The agitation spurred the growth of the communist movement in north Kerala even while it firmed up the management's resolve to suppress it. Workers and their leaders, including Nayanar, were beaten up and arrested.Morazha incident
Kerala was in turmoil by the time Nayanar returned from jail after six months. The Pradesh Congress Committee with its socialist orientation was then organising a protest against rising prices of essential commodities and the oppressive policies of the government. Nayanar was one of the organisers of a protest rally at Morazha in Kannur district on September 15, 1940, in which a sub-inspector and a head constable belonging to a police party trying to disrupt the meeting were killed. Nayanar went into hiding for over six years without realising that he was not listed as an accused in the case. During this period, he played an important role in the establishment of the communist and farm workers' movements in Kasaragod district and south Karnataka. In fact, Nayanar's elder brother was instead named as the accused in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment, reportedly at the instigation of the managers of the Aaron Mill.Kayyur incident
Under Krishna Pillai's instructions, he worked in the KayyurKayyur
-Demographics: India census, Kayyur had a population of 6094 with 2900 males and 3194 females....
-Cheemeni areas of Kasaragod district, even while trying to escape detection by the police. A strong movement had grown in a short period of time against the feudal system. A head constable who tried to abuse and beat up some activists leading a demonstration was stoned by party workers. The constable jumped into the river Tejaswini and drowned. The police then violently pursued the communists at Kayyur
Kayyur
-Demographics: India census, Kayyur had a population of 6094 with 2900 males and 3194 females....
. Nayanar and a few of his friends escaped to the forests of East and West Eleri areas.(Later when he became the chief minister, he proposed a Government College in the very same area he spent many years in hiding. The Government college Elerithattu
Elerithattu
Elerithattu is located in West Eleri village , about 30 km east of Nileshwar in the Kasaragod district of Kerala in India. The settlement is situated in a sylvan environment, with rubber trees and various tropical vegetation.- Education :...
was established in 1981. The college was renamed to E.K.Nayanar Memorial Government college, Elerithattu
Elerithattu
Elerithattu is located in West Eleri village , about 30 km east of Nileshwar in the Kasaragod district of Kerala in India. The settlement is situated in a sylvan environment, with rubber trees and various tropical vegetation.- Education :...
). Nayanar was listed as the third accused in the case, though he was not directly involved in the particular incident. Four other accused in the case were sentenced to death. He continued to work for the party incognito until 1946, when the new provincial government decided to drop the case.
After Independence
In later years, Nayanar used to recite a Malayalam poem repeatedly to his comrades, which roughly translated, meant: "A life, however beautiful, my friends, has something missing in it, if it has not been to the hangman's chambers, the prison or the battle field." It had a lot of meaning for Nayanar, who had indeed worked "underground" in all regions of the State. After the Kayyur incident, Nayanar had switched his area of activity to TravancoreTravancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
(south Kerala) where, masquerading (initially) as a proof reader in a prominent Malayalam newspaper, Kerala Kaumudi, he organised party activities from Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
to Kanyakumari and later in Kottayam
Kottayam
Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative capital of the Kottayam district. Kottayam Kottayam (Malayalam: കോട്ടയം) is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative...
and Alappuzha
Alappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...
. Nayanar devoted boundless energy to the communist cause and rose in the Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
(CPI), becoming the Kannur taluk secretary in 1948 and the Kozhikode district secretary in 1955. In most of his media interviews, Nayanar reminded everyone in his inimitable naughty style: "Does (Chief Minister) A.K. Antony know every panchayat in Kerala? He does not. But I know every village in this State like the back of my hand. There is no place where I have not been in hiding from the police."
Nayanar was a member of the national council and State executive of the undivided CPI. When the party split in 1964, he was among the 32 members who walked out of the CPI national council to form the CPI(M). He was a member of the central committee of the CPI(M) from the 7th Congress in 1964. He was elected to the Polit Bureau at the 14th Congress in 1992. He served as the secretary of the Kerala state committee of the CPI(M) from 1972 to 1980 and again from 1992 to 1996.
Controversial remarks
"As long as there are women, there will be sex scandals," was the reaction of the chief minister of Kerala, India's most literate state, to the unearthing of the Kozhikode call girl racket in which politicians were involved. Nayanar-speak, when questioned on the rising incidence of sexual crimes in the state: "In the US, rape is like drinking a cup of coffee." And it started much earlier. Asked why the frontrunner for the CM's post from his party, the CPI(M), Susheela Gopalan, was not to be the CM after the last assembly elections, Nayanar replied: "If you want to run after women, you are free to do so. I will not." In fact, Nayanar is only echoing the thoughts of veteran Marxist E.M.S. Namboodiripad who accused Arundhati Roy of writing "immoral things about her mother who did not protest". "I am not that kind of communist," he is reported to have said, implying that he would—and did—protest. This, from the leaders of the progressive Left!In 1967 he was elected to Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
from Palghat (now Palakkad). He was elected to Kerala Assembly six times. Among the legislative constituencies he won from were Irikkur, Malampuzha, Thrikkaripur and Thalassery
Thalassery
Thalassery , also known as Tellicherry, is a city on the Malabar Coast of Kerala, India. This is the second largest city of North Malabar in terms of population. The name Tellicherry is the anglicized form of Thalassery. Thalassery municipality has a population just less than 100,000. Established...
.
He became the Chief Minister of Kerala
Chief Minister of Kerala
The Chief Minister of Kerala is the elected head of government of the state of Kerala, India. By the Constitution of India, the Chief minister is appointed by the Governor of the state....
for the first time on January 25, 1980. His term ended in 1981. He served a four-year term starting from 1987 and a full five-year term in 1996.
He was a capable journalist having edited the Deshabhimani daily and written innumerable articles in regular columns. Nayanar died on May 19, 2004 in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
following a pneumonia
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
.
See also
- Chief Ministers of Kerala
- Kerala Ministers
- Politics in Kerala
- KayyurKayyur-Demographics: India census, Kayyur had a population of 6094 with 2900 males and 3194 females....
- Azhikodan raghavanAzhikodan RaghavanAzhikodan Raghavan was a leader of Communist Party of India /CPI.He was born on July 1, 1919 at South Bazar, Kannur. He had his primary education from the 'Model Primary School' attached to Kannur Govt. Training school.After passing Vth std he was forced to discontinue his formal education...
- A K Gopalan
- E Krishna pilla