E M S Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), an Indian communist leader and theorist who served as chief minister of Kerala state from 1957 to 1959 and 1967 to 1969.
Early Life
E M S Namboodiripad was born on 13 June 1909, Kerala, India. He lost his dad when he was a kid. He studied at Victoria High School and Victoria College, and St. Thomas College in Thrissur. While in college, he was deeply involved with the Indian National Congress and the Indian independence movement.
In 1932, The British imprisoned him for a year for participating in the civil disobedience movement started by Mahatma Gandhi.
Career
In 1934 he co-founded the Congress Socialist Party and became a joint secretary, but after a while he joined the Communist Party of India. He was elected to the Madras Assembly in 1937. In 1941, he was elected to the party’s central committee, and in 1951, to its politburo. His involvement in formulation of party doctrine and his study and writing about Kerala’s economic and social problems, including insufficient agricultural output, high unemployment, and overpopulation, made him an important figure in the party.
In 1957, he became the first democratically elected Communist leader in India. While he was Kerala’s Chief Minister, he pioneered land reforms. Jawaharlal Nehru‘s Congress government at the Center sacked his government in 1959 after widespread unrest and protests in the state.
He led the Communist Party of India (Marxist) after the Communist split in 1964. The second time he became Kerala’s chief minister was in 1967, leading a coalition of seven parties. Again, he couldn’t finish his term. From 1960-1964 and 1970-1977, he served as Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly.
In 1991, he retired from active politics, but he kept on writing about politics.
Literary Works
He wrote several literary works, including the history of Kerala, A History of Indian Freedom Struggle, Crisis into Chaos: Political India 1981, How I Became a Communist, Conflicts and crisis : political India, Communist Party Keralathil, Nehru: Ideology and Practice, Kerala: yesterday today tomorrow, etc.
Death
He died on 19 March 1998, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
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