Chadayan Govindan (12 May 1929, Kambil in

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

district – 9 September 1998) was a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician and a former minister of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, South

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was the secretary of the Kerala State Committee of

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

(Marxist) (CPI(M)) until his death on 9 September 1998.

Early life

Chadayan Govindan was born on 12 May 1929 in Narath Panchayat in Kannur. His father was Kunhappa and his mother was Kalyani. His family was very poor and his school education had to be stopped in the fifth class. He started working as a weaver from young age.

Political life

Govindan became a party cell member in 1948. He resisted the physical attacks goondas very boldly and this gave him the image of a fire brand worker. His house was attacked following a march he organised as part of the Malabar District Board elections in 1949. His weaving equipments were destroyed. He went to Karnataka and engaged in a manual work. After the Padikkunnu shooting, Chadayan Govindan was arrested and tortured in the police camp for one week. News came out that he was dead and hearing this people assembled in front of the camp. Later police informed that he was alive. He was arrested in 1965 as part of the nationwide assault on left wing leaders framing them as ‘Chinese Agents’. He has spent many years in the underground for party work. Chadayan Govindan became Communist Party Irikkur Farka Committee Member in 1952 and became a full-time party worker in 1962. In 1964, he was Kannur Taluk Committee Member and District Council member of CPI. Later he became a member of CPI (M) Kannur district committee. In 1977 he was elected as Kannur District Committee Secretariat member and State Committee Member in 1978. He became Kannur District Secretary in 1979 and a member of the State Secretariat in 1985. Later he became the state secretary of CPI (M) in Kerala. He was a member of Narath Panchayat Board in 1954. He was elected to the Kerala Assembly from Azheekode Constituency in 1977. He was elected as the State Secretary of CPI (M) in 1996, when the then Secretary and former

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. '' De facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites th ...

E. K. Nayanar stepped down to become the Chief Minister for the third time. He suffered from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

during his final days, and had frequent admissions in the R. C. C. in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. He was admitted there for the final time on 25 August 1998, and died at 2:40 AM on 9 September, aged 69. His dead body was taken to his native place Kannur, and was cremated at Payyambalam Beach in the presence of numerous dignitaries, including Nayanar. He was survived by his wife and four sons.

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian politician who has served as the List of chief ministers of Kerala, Chief Minister of Kerala since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), politburo ...

, the then State Cabinet Minister for Electricity and Co-operation and presently the Chief Minister of Kerala, succeeded him as the State Secretary of CPI (M).

References

1929 births 1998 deaths Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala Politicians from Kannur district Malayali politicians Kerala MLAs 1977–1979 Deaths from cancer in India {{Kerala-CPIndiaMarxist-politician-stub