T.J. Chandrachoodan (20 April 1940 – 31 October 2022) was an Indian politician. He was the general secretary of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) in 2008 to 2018.

Early life and education

T.J. Chandrachoodan is the son of T.J. Janarthanan.myneta.info.
T J CHANDRACHOODAN
' As a student, Chandrachoodan obtained a M.A. degree from

Kerala University University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithira ...

in 1962 as the first rank. During his university period, he was active in the RSP student wing, All India Progressive Students union. He also worked as in the weekly '' Kaumudi''. In 1969 he began working as a lecturer at a college.

RSP state leadership

In 1975 Chandrachoodan was inducted into the Kerala State Secretariat of RSP. He stood as the RSP candidate in Trivandrum West in the 1982 Kerala Legislative Assembly election. He finished in second place with 24,373 votes. He gave up his teaching profession in 1987 and contested the Trivandram West seat in the 1987 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, finishing in second place with 30,096 votes. In 1990 he was included in the central secretariat of RSP. In 1999 he became secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the party. Chandrachoodan stood as the RSP candidate for the Arianad seat in the

2006 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The 2006 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, part of a series of State Assembly elections in India, 2006, state assembly elections in 2006, was held in three phases. The first phase was held on 22 April 2006, when 59 out of the 140 constituenc ...

. He finished in second place with 40,858 votes. Chandrachoodan lost a re-election for the post as RSP Kerala State Committee secretary in January 2008, defeated by V.P. Ramakrishna Pillai by 22 against 18 votes in the Kerala State Committee.

General Secretary

Chandrachoodan was elected general secretary of the RSP on 24 March 2008, at a national party conference held in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. He is the third Keralite to head the RSP.''The Hindu''.
Chandrachoodan third Keralite to lead RSP
' He was considered a potential contender for a seat in the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

in 2009. According to press sources 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 ...

, or CPI(M), was interested in getting Chandrachoodan elected to the national parliament, because of his skills as an orator. He had played an important role in the

United Progressive Alliance The United Progressive Alliance (UPA; Hindi: Saṁyukta Pragatiśīl Gaṭhabandhan) was a Political group, political alliance in India led by the Indian National Congress. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election, 2004 general ele ...

–Left Coordination Committee, which dealt with the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. But the RSP Kerala State Committee secretary V.P. Ramakrishna Pillai and others in the Kerala leadership of the party opposed his candidature, and opted not to request the seat at the

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of Left-wing politics, left-wing political parties led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the current List of current Indian ruling and opposition parties, r ...

convention.OjNews.com.
K.N.Balagopal and T.N.Seema CPM candidates for Rajya Sabha from Kerala
'''The New Indian Express''.
M P Achuthan is CPI’s Rajya Sabha nominee
' In the subsequent election to the Rajya Sabha, the RSP requested that Chandrachoodan be nominated as Kerala's

candidate, but the CPI(M) was no longer interested in supporting his candidature. In 2012 Chandrachoodan was re-elected as RSP general secretary at the 19th party conference in

Alipurduar Alipurduar (), is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Alipurduar district and Alipurduar railway division of NFR. It is situated in the Western Dooars natural region, on the banks of Kaljani River in the ...

. In the run-up to the

2014 Lok Sabha election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

, Chandrachoodan was noted for distancing himself from the CPI(M). Chandrachoodan died 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 ...

on 31 October 2022, at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandrachoodan, T. J. 1940 births 2022 deaths People from Kerala University of Kerala alumni Revolutionary Socialist Party (India) politicians