Between 2001 and 2013, A Suresh was like V S Achuthanandan’s shadow. And so, when the former Kerala chief minister took his final journey from the SUT hospital in Thiruvananthapuram to the burial ground in Alappuzha on Tuesday, it was no surprise that Suresh was in the crowd, accompanying his beloved comrade.
For Suresh, a native of Palakkad, this journey started in Malampuzha in 2001, when VS was an MLA. Suresh, a local CPIM cadre at the time, was appointed by the party to the MLA’s office, and a year later, joined as Achuthanandan’s personal assistant, a post he held till 2013.
“During his stint as MLA, I was asked to look into the matters of the constituency, its issues and complaints from people. A year later, he asked me to join his staff,” he recalled.
Suresh saw firsthand how VS transformed into a mass leader. “Until then, he had been known as a ruthless communist in the party. But after he assumed office as an opposition leader in 2001, VS got involved in social issues, becoming a crusader of causes, a mass leader. I was impressed by the way he instantly grasped the gravity of any issue placed before him. Even in his 70s, he could strike a chord with people of any age, any section.”
“I would look after his medicines, his food. He had a strict regimen, which he never compromised. A vegetarian, he led a simple life without many demands. Even when he was passing through stormy political days, VS did not change his daily schedule when it came to food, sleep, yoga and exercise. That helped him live past 100,” said Suresh.
VS, Suresh said, remained unfazed by controversy. “Even when the media reported about the troubles he had faced in the party, VS looked least perturbed. Even after a long, arduous journey, he would be back to his fixed schedule the next day.”
In 2013, the party removed Suresh as the personal staff of VS, who was then the Leader of Opposition, on charges of leaking information to the media.
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“VS wanted to retain me as a personal assistant. But, I knew that my appointment was a political one and I had to step down as per the party’s directions. However, I continued to be in touch with VS over the past decade. On Monday, when he breathed last at 3.20 pm at the hospital IUC, I was waiting there expecting that the comrade, who had been a fighter throughout life, would defeat death,” he said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd