Padayatt Kesavapillai Vasudevan Nair (2 March 1926 – 12 July 2005), popularly known as PKV, was an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 7th

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 ...

from 1978 to 1979. He was a

Member of the Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections on ...

from 1957 to 1971 and again from 2004 until his death in 2005. He became Chief Minister on 29 October 1978, following

A. K. Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian lawyer, attorney and statesman who served as the Minister of Defence of India from 2006 to 2014, making him the longest serving Defence Minister in India. He previously served as ...

's resignation as Chief Minister. However he resigned on 7 October 1979 owing to differences with other parties in the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

. He served 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 1977 to 1982. Nair was a senior 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 ...

. He was the founder-president of the Travancore Students Union,

All India Students Federation The All India Students' Federation (AISF) is the oldest Student society, student organisation in India, founded in 1936. Pre-independence AISF was founded on 12 August 1936, with guidance and cooperation from the Indian independence movemen ...

(AISF) and

All India Youth Federation The All India Youth Federation (AIYF) is a nationwide youth organisation of Communist Party of India founded on May 3, 1959. AIYF is affiliated to World Federation of Democratic Youth and member of general council of WFDY. Formation It was ...

(AIYF). He remained with the CPI after the split in the Communist movement in 1964 and was elected the party's State secretary in 1982.

Early life and education

He was born in Kidangoor village in Kottayam, Kerala to a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Nair The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hi ...

family of Kesava Pillai and Nanikutty Amma. He was their eldest child. He completed his pre-degree from SB College Changanasserry. He began his political life as a student activist while studying in

Union Christian College, Aluva Union Christian College, Aluva (known as UC College) is a college affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. It is one of the earliest colleges in India to be established and managed by Indian Christians. It was founded in 1921 by fou ...

, when the whole country was in upheaval having entered the final phase of freedom struggle. After graduating in Physics he went on to study law at Government Law College,

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 ...

. PKV had his baptism in politics during his student days as an activist of the

(AISF).

Political career

Youth politics

He joined the

in 1945 like many young radicals of his time who thought Congress were too moderate and pro-rich. The subsequent years saw him evolve as a student and youth leader. He was the president of Travancore Students' Union in 1947 and elected as President of All Kerala Students Federation in 1948.

Politics in Travancore-Cochin state

PKV was first arrested for making a speech against the royal ruler of Travancore. He was among hundreds of communists who went underground when the Communist Party of India was banned following its adoption of the

Calcutta Thesis Calcutta Thesis is the popular name for the resolution adopted by 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India held at Kolkata in 1948. Overview The Communist Party of India's second congress at Calcutta on 28 February 1948, the Zhdanov line o ...

that called for armed struggle against the ruling government in 1948. He took part in underground activities from 1948 to 1951 and was arrested in 1951 in connection with students' movement. P K Vasudevan Nair and Balraj Sahani backed the idea of All India Youth Federation. Delhi's firebrand youth leader,

Guru Radha Kishan Guru Radha Kishan (1925-1996) was an Indian Independence activist and Communist politician. Early life Radha Kishan was born in 1925 in a family of farmers on Krishna Janmashtami in Bid village (currently in Harda district, Madhya Pradesh) ...

was very active in organising the first national conference of AIYF in Delhi, this wholehearted effort was visible when more than 250 delegates and observers across India representing several youth organizations of various states attended this conference. PKV had acted as president of

(AIYF) and Vice President of

World Federation of Democratic Youth The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

(WFDY).

Niyamasabha MLA and Lok Sabha MP

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from

Tiruvalla Thiruvalla, () also spelled Tiruvalla, is a municipality in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of and has a population of 52,883 people, down from 56,837 in 2001. It is also the Headquarters Of Thiruvalla ...

in 1957 from

Ambalappuzha Ambalappuzha is a small town in the Alappuzha district of Kerala state, India. It is located south of Alappuzha which is the district headquarters. Ambalappuzha is divided into the two panchayats of Ambalapuzha North and Ambalapuzha South. ...

in 1962 and from

Peermade Peermade, also spelt Peerumedu is a village, Grama Panchayat and hill station in the state of Kerala, in southwestern India. It lies above sea level in the Western Ghats (Sahyadri) about east of Kottayam on the way to Kumily. Etymology The n ...

in 1967. He was in the panel of chairmen and secretary of CPI Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha from 1967 to 1970. He was elected the MLA from

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

in 1977 and 1980.

Chief Minister

When the Communist Party split in 1964, he stayed with the CPI. After a long national parliamentary career, PKV returned to state politics in the 1970s and was elected to the Kerala Assembly in 1977 in the election held after the Emergency. He was the Industries Minister in the Karunakaran and

A.K. Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian lawyer, attorney and statesman who served as the Minister of Defence of India from 2006 to 2014, making him the longest serving Defence Minister in India. He previously served as ...

ministries from April 1977 to October 1978. When Antony resigned in 1979 protesting against the Congress' choice of

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 ...

as a candidate in

Chikmagalur Chikmagalur (officially Chikkamagaluru, ), previously known as ''Kiriya-Muguli'' is a city and the headquarters of Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the foothills of the Mullayanagiri, Mullayanagiri peak of the We ...

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

by-election, PKV became Chief Minister with the support of the Congress on 29 October 1978 and occupied the post till 7 October 1979.

Personal life

Whether in or out of power, he had always led a simple life and had been accessible to all sections of people. An ardent communist, the epitome of simplicity and a crusader for people's causes in his long political career spanning six decades that saw him elected to the post of Chief Minister, four-time MP and leader of CPI's Parliamentary Group in the Lok Sabha. He had left a vivid impression in the minds of the people. From 1982 to 2004, PKV had stayed away from electoral politics, concentrating his time and energy on the organisational front. During this period, he mostly served as the state secretary of CPI. PKV also served as editor of Janayugom daily, the organ of the Communist Party of India between 1954 and 1957.

Death

PKV died at 3.35 PM on 12 July 2005 in AIIMS, New Delhi following multiple organ failure brought about by chronic

heart ailment Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic he ...

and severe

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, from both he suffered for a long time. He was serving as the

MP from

constituency, elected in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

elections. He was cremated at his daughter's house at

Pulluvazhy Pulluvazhi is a small village in Rayamangalam Grama panchayat in the Ernakulam district of Kerala state, India. It is close to the towns Perumbavoor, Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam, Ernakulam, Kothamangalam. Pulluvazhi is the birthplace of ma ...

near

Perumbavoor Perumbavoor () is a municipality in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located north of the district collectorate in Thrikkakara and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Perumbavoor is part of the Kochi metrop ...

. His wife, Lakshmikutty Amma, who was the younger sister of P. Govinda Pillai, a veteran Marxist scholar and PKV's classmate, died eight years later on 6 July 2013. The couple are survived by their three sons and two daughters.