Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as E.M.S. Namboodiripad or simply by his initials E. M. S., was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first

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 ...

in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. As a member of the

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 ...

(CPI), he became the first non-

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

in the Indian republic. In 1964, he led a faction of the CPI that broke away to form the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

(CPI(M)). As chief minister, EMS pioneered radical land and educational reforms in Kerala, which helped it become the country's leader in social indicators. It is largely due to his commitment and guidance that the CPI(M), of which he was Politburo member and general secretary for 14 years, has become such a domineering political force, playing a vital role in India's new era of coalition politics.

Early life

E. M. Sankaran Namboodiripad was born on 13 June 1909, as the fourth son of Parameswaran Namboodiripad and Vishnudatha Antharjanam, at Elamkulam, situated on the banks of

Thuthapuzha Thuthapuzha River is one of the main tributaries of the Bharathapuzha River. The source of the river is in the Silent Valley hills. It flows through Malappuram-Palakkad district border. In Mannarkkad region the river is named as the Kunthipuzha ...

River, in

Perinthalmanna taluk Perinthalmanna Taluk, formerly known as Walluvanad Taluk, comes under Perinthalmanna revenue division in Malappuram district of Kerala, India. Its headquarters is the town of Perinthalmanna. The taluk encompasses 24 revenue villages. Perinthalm ...

of the present

Malappuram district Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . The most populous district of Kerala, Malappuram is home to around 13% of the tot ...

. He belonged to a prominent Malayali Nambudiri Brahmin family. His two elder brothers died before he was born, and the third brother was

intellectually disabled Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...

. He lost his father when he was five. During the 1921

Malabar rebellion The Malabar rebellion of 1921 (also called Moplah rebellion, and Mappila rebellion, Malayalam: ''malabār kalāpam'') started as a resistance against the British colonial rule in certain places in the southern part of old Malabar district of pr ...

he moved to

Irinjalakuda Irinjalakuda is a municipal town in Thrissur district, Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of Irinjalakuda Revenue Division, Thrissur Rural Police and Mukundapuram Taluk. After Thrissur, this town has most number of administrative, law-enfor ...

as the belligerent attacked his house. In his early years, he was a close friend of Sr. P.M. Mathew. He was associated with

V. T. Bhattathiripad Vellithuruthi Thazhathu Karutha Patteri Raman Bhattathiripad (26 March 1896 – 12 February 1982), also known as V. T. Bhattathiripad, was an Indian social reformer, dramatist and an Indian independence activist. He was best known for his cont ...

, M. R. Bhattathiripad and many others in the fight against the casteism and conservatism that existed in the

Namboothiri The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Namboothiri, Namboodri, Namboori, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of th ...

community. He became one of the office-bearers of Valluvanadu Yogaskshema Sabha, an organization of progressive Namboothiri youth. Namboodiripad graduated from St. Thomas College, Thrissur. During his college days, he was deeply associated with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. It is said he would walk 5–8 km to hear the firebrand Cochin politician V.J Mathai speak. Namboodiripad was well known for his stammer. When asked if he always stammered, he would reply, "No, only when I speak."

Socialism

In 1934, he was one of the founders of

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of ...

, a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

wing within the

, and elected as its All India Joint Secretary from 1934 to 1940. He edited the Malayalam newspaper ''

Prabhatham ''Prabhatham'' was a Malayalam-language weekly newspaper published from Shoranur in Malabar, British India. Founded in 1935 and edited by E. M. S. Namboodiripad, it was the organ of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) in Malabar, Travancore and C ...

'' which was the organ of the Congress Socialist Party in Kerala. During this period, he was also elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly (1939). He remained committed to socialist ideals, and his compassion towards the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

led him to join the

Communist movement Communist Movement (in Spanish: ''Movimiento Comunista'', in Basque: ''Mugimendu Komunista'', in Catalan: ''Moviment Comunista'', in Galician: ''Movemento Comunista'', in Asturian: ''Movimientu Comunista'') was a political party in Spain ...

. The

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

considered him to be one of the

founders Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

of the

(CPI) in

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 ...

, forcing him to go into hiding. During the 1962

Sino-Indian war The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

, he was among leaders who aired China's view on the border issue. When the CPI split in 1964, EMS stood with the

(CPI(M)). He was the leader of the

state committee of CPI(M). He served as a member of the Central Committee and the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of the CPI(M) until his death in 1998. EMS became

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

in 1977, a designation he held until 1992. A

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

scholar, he influenced the development of

, of which he was the first

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Election to state government

Kerala Assembly Election Results 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 ...

-led government under E. M. S. Namboodiripad resulted from the first elections for the new Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1957, making him the first communist leader in India to head a popularly elected government. It was the second ever Communist government to be democratically elected, after Communist success in the 1945 elections in the

Republic of San Marino A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

, a microstate in Europe. On 5 April 1957 he was appointed as the first chief minister of Kerala. His government introduced the Land Reform Ordinance and Education Bill. In 1958, a period of anticommunist protest, the

Vimochana Samaram The Liberation Struggle in Kerala (1958–59) was a period of anti-communist protest against the first elected state government in Kerala, led by E. M. S. Namboodiripad of the Communist Party of India. Organised opposition to the government w ...

, began in response to the bills. The central government of India responded in 1959 by invoking Article 356 of the

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...

, suspending state government and imposing President's rule. Initially, Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

was hesitant to dismiss a democratically elected government, but he was convinced by his daughter

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

. Involvement by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

's in the ouster has been long suspected. Declassified CIA documents show that the establishment of communist state governments in India concerned them and "preventing additional Keralas became an important argument for augmenting U.S. assistance to India". According to the biography of former US Ambassador

Ellsworth Bunker Ellsworth F. Bunker (May 11, 1894 – September 27, 1984) was an American businessman and diplomat who served as ambassador to Argentina, Italy, India, Nepal and South Vietnam. He is perhaps best known for being a hawk on the war in Vietnam and S ...

, "the election results rang alarm bells in Washington". Namboodiripad became the Chief Minister of Kerala for the second time in 1967 as the leader of a seven-party coalition ( Saptakakshi Munnani) which included the CPI and Muslim League. Soon after becoming Chief Minister again, on 31 January 1968 he inaugurated a mechanized coir factory called Floorco in Pozhikkara, Paravur. This time Namboodiripad's tenure lasted for two and a half years, and the government fell on 24 October 1969 due to internal conflicts within the constituent parties. Namboodiripad was the Leader of Opposition in the

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 30 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 ...

from 1960 to 1964 and again from 1970 to 1977. His vision of decentralization of power and resources ( People's Plan) and the Kerala Literacy Movement influenced Kerala society. He authored several books in English and Malayalam. Chintha Publication, Kerala has published all his books under the title, "E M S Sanchika". He also was well known as a journalist.

As the head of ministries in the Kerala State Assembly

E. M. S. has led 2 ministries in Kerala.

Sino-Indian war and split in the Communist Party

During the 1962

, other parties portrayed left-wing parties as pro-China, since both were Communist. Namboodiripad stated that the left was focused on solving the border dispute through talks.

Association with Progressive Movement for Arts and Letters

Namboodiripad, Kesari Balakrishna Pillai, Joseph Mundassery, M. P. Paul and K. Damodaran were architects of "JeevalSahitya Prastanam", renamed Purogamana Sahitya Prastanam ( Progressive Association for Arts and Letters). Though the party considered Kesari one of the visionaries of the Progressive Movement for Arts and Letters in Kerala, serious differences of opinion emerged between full-time Communist Party activists and other personalities, namely Kesari and Mundassery. In this context, Namboodiripad famously accused Kesari of being a "

petit-bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, ; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a term that refers to a social class composed of small business owners, shopkeepers, small-scale merchants, semi-autonomous peasants, and artisans. They are named as such ...

intellectual", an appellation he retracted. Namboodiripad also acknowledged some of the earlier misconceptions of the Communist Party with respect to the Progressive Literature and Arts Movement. This debate is known as "Rupa Bhadrata Vivadam", an important milestone in the growth of modern

Malayalam literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puduchery, is one of the six classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary text ...

Death

Despite his age and failing health, Namboodiripad was still active in political and social fields. He actively campaigned during the 1998 general election. Soon after the results were declared, he contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, and was admitted to the Cosmopolitan hospital 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 ...

, where he died at 3:40 p.m. ( IST) on 19 March 1998, aged 88. This was barely hours after he had dictated two articles for ''

Deshabhimani ''Deshabhimani'' is a Malayalam newspaper and the organ of the Kerala State Committee of the CPI(M). It started as a weekly in Kozhikode on 6 September 1942 and converted to a daily in 1946. The paper now has ten different printing centres: Ko ...

'', a CPI (M) daily, and replies to a few letters. The state government declared a seven-day mourning. His body was draped in the CPI (M) flag and was taken to AKG Centre in the city where members of his family paid their respects, before it was taken to Durbar Hall and was kept for viewing, where members of the public, and party leaders and workers paid their respects. Thousands of people joined the funeral procession and he was cremated with full state honours in Thycaud electric crematorium in Thiruvananthapuram. The

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

K. R. Narayanan Kocheril Raman "K. R." Narayanan (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the vice president of India from 1992 to 1997 and president of India from 1997 to 2002. Naray ...

condoled his death and stated: "A scholar, historian and journalist, he was above all an educator of the people as well as their leader. Unremittingly, for the last several decades, he analysed the socio-political scene from the firm-rootedness of his intellectual position and enriched Indian political thought to his very last days."

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

, who took office on the same day Namboodiripad died, recalled that Namboodiripad had brought to politics a sense of commitment and purpose and that he was a champion of the cause of the working classes and the downtrodden. Three more deaths occurred in his family within five years after his death, starting with his daughter-in-law Dr. Yamuna in August 2001, and later followed by his wife Arya Antharjanam in January 2002 and elder son E.M. Sreedharan in November 2002. E.M. Sasi, his younger son, died on 24 January 2022 after suffering from a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Family

EMS was married to Arya Antharjanam and had two sons – E. M. Sreedharan and E. M. Sasi – and two daughters – E. M. Malathy and E. M. Radha. His grandson (Sreedharan's son) Sujith Shankar is an actor.

Writing

He was a writer and author of several literary works and his book on the history of Kerala is notable.

In popular culture

In the 2014 film ''

Vasanthathinte Kanal Vazhikalil ''Vasanthathinte Kanal Vazhikalil'' is a 2014 Malayalam-language political drama film directed by Anil V Nagendran, who is also the producer, writer and lyricist. The film stars Samuthirakani and Tamil actress Thamarai in the lead roles with an ...

'',

Sudheesh Sudheesh (born 7 December 1972) is an Indian actor and director who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor in 2021. Personal life Sudheesh is the only son of T. Sudhakaran ...

reprises the role of Namboodiripad.

References

External links

EMS Namboodiripad talking about how he became a communist in the 1930s and the development of the Indian communist movement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namboodiripad, E. M. S. 1909 births 1998 deaths Chief ministers of Kerala Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala Government Victoria College, Palakkad alumni Indian atheists Indian reformers Indian independence activists Malayali politicians Educators from Kerala St. Thomas College, Thrissur alumni Leaders of the opposition in Kerala Chief ministers from Communist Party of India (Marxist) Chief ministers from Communist Party of India General secretaries of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala MLAs 1960–1964 Kerala MLAs 1970–1977 Kerala MLAs 1977–1979 Indian political writers Indian male writers Writers from Kerala Politicians from Malappuram district 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian educational theorists Malayalam-language writers Indian political philosophers 20th-century Indian philosophers Indian economics writers Indian Marxist journalists Indian Marxist writers 20th-century Indian journalists Journalists from Kerala Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Brahmins who fought against discrimination Anti-caste activists Prisoners and detainees of British India Kerala MLAs 1965–1967