E. M. S. Namboodiripad: Difference between revisions

*Comrade*
E. M. S. Namboodiripad
Comrade E. M. S. Namboodiripad
1st Chief Minister of Kerala
	In office; 6 March 1967 – 1 November 1969
Preceded by	R. Shankar
Succeeded by	C. Achutha Menon
	In office; 5 April 1957 – 31 July 1959
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Pattom Thanu Pillai
General Secretary of Communist Party of India
	In office; 29 April 1962 – 11 April 1964
Preceded by	Ajoy Ghosh
Succeeded by	Chandra Rajeswara Rao
General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
	In office; 8 April 1978 – 9 January 1992
Preceded by	P. Sundarayya
Succeeded by	Harkishan Singh Surjeet
Personal details
Born	Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad; 13 June 1909; Perinthalmanna, Madras Presidency, British India; (now Malappuram district, Kerala, India)
Died	19 March 1998 (aged 88); Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist) (from 1964)
Other political; affiliations	Communist Party of India (before 1964)
Spouse(s)	Arya Antharjanam (1937–2002)
Children	4
Residence	Thiruvananthapuram
Alma mater	St. Thomas College, Thrissur
Known for	Co-founder of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Website	Government of Kerala

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Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (Template:Ipa, 13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998) was an Indian communist politician, theorist, author and statesman who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. As a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), he became the first Chief Minister in India not to be a member of the Indian National Congress. In 1964, he led a faction of the CPI that broke away to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)).

As chief minister, Namboodiripad 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.^[3]

Early life[edit | edit source]

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 River, in Perinthalmanna taluk of the present Malappuram district. 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. He lost his father when he was five.

During the 1921 Malabar rebellion he moved to Irinjalakuda as the belligerent attacked his house.^{[clarification needed]} In his early years, he was a close friend of Sr. P. M. Mathew. He was associated with V. T. Bhattathiripad, M. R. Bhattathiripad and many others in the fight against the casteism and conservatism that existed in the Namboothiri 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 and the Indian independence movement. It is said^{[by whom?]} he would walk 5–8 km to hear the firebrand Cochin politician V. J. Mathai speak.^[4]

Namboodiripad was well known for his stammer.^[5] When asked if he always stammered, he would reply, "No, only when I speak."^[6]

Socialism[edit | edit source]

In 1934, he was one of the founders of Congress Socialist Party, a socialist wing within the Indian National Congress, and elected as its All India Joint Secretary from 1934 to 1940. He edited the Malayalam newspaper Prabhatham which was the organ of the Congress Socialist Party in Kerala.^[7] 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 led him to join the Communist movement. The Indian government considered him to be one of the founders of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in Kerala, forcing him to go into hiding.^[when?] During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, he was among leaders who aired China's view on the border issue. When the CPI split in 1964, EMS stood with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). He was the leader of the Kerala state committee of CPI(M). He served as a member of the Central Committee and the Politburo of the CPI(M) until his death in 1998. EMS became general secretary in 1977, a designation he held until 1992. A Marxist scholar, he influenced the development of Kerala, of which he was the first chief minister.

Election to state government[edit | edit source]

Early days[edit | edit source]

Swearing-in ceremony of Namboodiripad as first Chief Minister of Kerala, April 1957

Kerala Assembly election results
Election	Year	Party	Constituency	Result
Madras Legislative Assembly	1952	CPI	Kozhikode	Lost
Kerala Legislative Assembly	1957		Thrikaripur	Won
	1960		Pattambi	Won
	1965			Won
	1967	CPI(M)		Won
	1970			Won
	1977		Alathur	Won

A Communist-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.^[8]^[9] 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 microstate in Europe.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13] On 5 April 1957 he was appointed as the first chief minister of Kerala.

Liberation struggle[edit | edit source]

His government introduced the Land Reform Ordinance and Education Bill. In 1958, a period of anticommunist protest, the Vimochana Samaram, began in response to the bills.

Visit from Nehru[edit | edit source]

On June 22, 1959, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had a meeting with EMS, and others. Nehru made the visit to personally examine the collapse of the state's law and order after the "liberation struggle" (vimochansamaram) against the EMS government. The movement was led by Christian churches and Hindu caste organisations such as the Nair Service Society (NSS) headed by Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai. The movement saw widespread violence and counter-violence. All along the Nehru's route from the airport to the Raj Bhavan, crowds demanded EMS ministry’s dismissal by the centre. Nehru asked EMS, "How could you make so many enemies in such a short time?" Upon Nehru's return to Delhi, EMS government was dismissed on July 31.^[14]^[15]^[16] Initially, Nehru was hesitant to dismiss a democratically elected government, but he was convinced by Congress President and his daughter, Indira Gandhi.^[17]^[18]

Later times[edit | edit source]

Namboodiripad with Romanian President Nicolae Ceauşescu in 1979.

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 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.

During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, 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.^[19]

Ministries[edit | edit source]

Namboodiripad led two ministries in Kerala.

Details of the Ministries led by E. M. S. Namboodiripad
Sl no.	Ministry	Date formed	Date dissolved	Remarks
1	First E. M. S. Namboodiripad ministry	5 April 1957	31 July 1959	Dismissed under Article 356 in the aftermath of the so-called Liberation Struggle ^[20]
2	Second E. M. S. Namboodiripad ministry	6 March 1967	1 November 1969	Tendered resignation as a result of internal dissensions and subsequent loss of majority.^[21]

Association with Progressive Movement for Arts and Letters[edit | edit source]

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 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.

Death[edit | edit source]

The E.M.S. Memorial Co-operative Hospital in Perinthalmanna

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, and was admitted to the Cosmopolitan hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where he died at 3:40 p.m. (IST) on 19 March 1998, aged 88.^[22] This was barely hours after he had dictated two articles for Deshabhimani, a CPI (M) daily, and replies to a few letters.^[23]

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.^[23]

President K. R. Narayanan 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 Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 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.^[23]

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.

Family[edit | edit source]

Namboodiripad 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[edit | edit source]

He was a writer and author of several literary works and his book on the history of Kerala is notable.^[19]^[24]

In popular culture[edit | edit source]

In the 2014 film Vasanthathinte Kanal Vazhikalil, Sudheesh reprises the role of Namboodiripad.^[25]

References[edit | edit source]

↑ "EMS' wife passes away". The Times of India. 3 January 2002. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
↑ "E.M. Sreedharan dead". The Hindu. 15 November 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2018.^{[dead link]}
↑ Singh, Kuldip (1 April 1998). "Obituary: E. M. S. Namboodiripad". The Independent. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
↑ "Resurrecting the Legend of Vettath Mathai". The New Indian Express. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
↑ K. M. Tampi (17 May 2001). "A colourful personality fades out from the Kerala scene". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 May 2003.
↑ Smita Mitra and John Mary (14 March 2011). "Streaming Syllables". Outlook India.
↑ History of Mass Media (PDF). University of Calicut. pp. 15–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
↑ Olle Törnquist (1991). "Communists and democracy: Two Indian cases and one debate" (PDF). Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 23 (2). Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars: 63–76. doi:10.1080/14672715.1991.10413152. ISSN 0007-4810. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011. The first democratically elected communist-led government in India actually came to power in 1957 in the southwest-Indian state of Kerala. Two years later this government was undemocratically toppled-by the union government and the Congress-I party with Indira Gandhi in the forefront. But the communists were reelected and led several of the following state governments.
↑ Sarina Singh; Amy Karafin; Anirban Mahapatra (1 September 2009). South India. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74179-155-6. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
↑ K.G. Kumar (12 April 2007). "50 years of development". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
↑ Manali Desai (27 November 2006). State Formation and Radical Democracy in India. Taylor & Francis. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-203-96774-4. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
↑ Madan Gopal Chitkara; Baṃśī Rāma Śarmā (1 January 1997). Indian Republic: Issues and Perspective. APH Publishing. p. 134. ISBN 978-81-7024-836-1. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
↑ Alan James Mayne (1 January 1999). From Politics Past to Politics Future: An Integrated Analysis of Current and Emergent Paradigms. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-275-96151-0. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
↑ Lal, Shiv (1991). 1991 Electoral Politics, Sectarian Or Dynastic: Manifestoes & statewise reports. Election Archives. p. 92. ISBN 978-81-7051-078-9. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
↑ Radhakrishnan, M G (13 July 2024). "Rectification: An official party joke". mathrubhumi. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
↑ Sundararajan, Saroja (2002). Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, a Biography. Allied Publishers. p. 543. ISBN 978-81-7764-326-8. Retrieved 23 November 2025. Nair Service Society organised a violent campaign in Kerala in 1959 to " liberate " that State from the Communists
↑ Moynihan, Dangerous Place, 41
↑ Godbole, Public Accountability and Transparency: The Imperatives of Good Governance, 84.
↑ ^19.0 ^19.1 BHASKAR, B. R. P. (16 November 2004). "Book Review: Namboodiripad's writings". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
↑ "Vimochana Samaram". First Ministry. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
↑ "Kerala chronicles: When a coalition of 7 political parties came together only to fall apart". Live Mint. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
↑ "E M S Namboodiripad dead". Rediff.com. 19 March 1998. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
↑ ^23.0 ^23.1 ^23.2 Krishnakumar, R. (4–17 April 1998). "Farewell to EMS". Frontline. Vol. 15, no. 7. Archived from the original on 19 February 2001. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
↑ Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi, p 294
↑ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (13 November 2014). "Ode to a brave patriot". The Hindu.

External links[edit | edit source]

EMS Namboodiripad talking about how he became a communist in the 1930s and the development of the Indian communist movement

Political offices
Preceded by (none)	Chief Minister of Kerala 1957–1959	Succeeded by Pattom Thanupillai
Preceded by R. Sankar	Chief Minister of Kerala 1967–1969	Succeeded by C. Achutha Menon
Party political offices
Preceded by P. Sundarayya	General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) 1978–1992	Succeeded by Harkishan Singh Surjeet

[1] "EMS' wife passes away". The Times of India. 3 January 2002. Retrieved 21 February 2019.

[2] "E.M. Sreedharan dead". The Hindu. 15 November 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2018.^{[dead link]}

[3] Singh, Kuldip (1 April 1998). "Obituary: E. M. S. Namboodiripad". The Independent. Retrieved 20 May 2018.

[4] "Resurrecting the Legend of Vettath Mathai". The New Indian Express. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

[5] K. M. Tampi (17 May 2001). "A colourful personality fades out from the Kerala scene". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 May 2003.

[Smita_Mitra_and_John_Mary-6] Smita Mitra and John Mary (14 March 2011). "Streaming Syllables". Outlook India.

[7] History of Mass Media (PDF). University of Calicut. pp. 15–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[tornquist91-8] Olle Törnquist (1991). "Communists and democracy: Two Indian cases and one debate" (PDF). Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 23 (2). Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars: 63–76. doi:10.1080/14672715.1991.10413152. ISSN 0007-4810. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011. The first democratically elected communist-led government in India actually came to power in 1957 in the southwest-Indian state of Kerala. Two years later this government was undemocratically toppled-by the union government and the Congress-I party with Indira Gandhi in the forefront. But the communists were reelected and led several of the following state governments.

[SinghKarafin2009-9] Sarina Singh; Amy Karafin; Anirban Mahapatra (1 September 2009). South India. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74179-155-6. Retrieved 6 January 2013.

[Hindu-10] K.G. Kumar (12 April 2007). "50 years of development". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 August 2013.

[Desai2006-11] Manali Desai (27 November 2006). State Formation and Radical Democracy in India. Taylor & Francis. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-203-96774-4. Retrieved 31 August 2013.

[ChitkaraŚarmā1997-12] Madan Gopal Chitkara; Baṃśī Rāma Śarmā (1 January 1997). Indian Republic: Issues and Perspective. APH Publishing. p. 134. ISBN 978-81-7024-836-1. Retrieved 18 November 2012.

[Mayne1999-13] Alan James Mayne (1 January 1999). From Politics Past to Politics Future: An Integrated Analysis of Current and Emergent Paradigms. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-275-96151-0. Retrieved 30 August 2013.

[z061-14] Lal, Shiv (1991). 1991 Electoral Politics, Sectarian Or Dynastic: Manifestoes & statewise reports. Election Archives. p. 92. ISBN 978-81-7051-078-9. Retrieved 23 November 2025.

[f637-15] Radhakrishnan, M G (13 July 2024). "Rectification: An official party joke". mathrubhumi. Retrieved 23 November 2025.

[t811-16] Sundararajan, Saroja (2002). Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, a Biography. Allied Publishers. p. 543. ISBN 978-81-7764-326-8. Retrieved 23 November 2025. Nair Service Society organised a violent campaign in Kerala in 1959 to " liberate " that State from the Communists

[17] Moynihan, Dangerous Place, 41

[18] Godbole, Public Accountability and Transparency: The Imperatives of Good Governance, 84.

[Namboodiripad's_writings-19] 19.0 ^19.1 BHASKAR, B. R. P. (16 November 2004). "Book Review: Namboodiripad's writings". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[20] "Vimochana Samaram". First Ministry. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.

[21] "Kerala chronicles: When a coalition of 7 political parties came together only to fall apart". Live Mint. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2019.

[22] "E M S Namboodiripad dead". Rediff.com. 19 March 1998. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

[death-23] 23.0 ^23.1 ^23.2 Krishnakumar, R. (4–17 April 1998). "Farewell to EMS". Frontline. Vol. 15, no. 7. Archived from the original on 19 February 2001. Retrieved 30 March 2024.

[24] Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi, p 294

[25] Nagarajan, Saraswathy (13 November 2014). "Ode to a brave patriot". The Hindu.

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v t e Communist Party of India (Marxist)
General secretaries	P. Sundarayya (1964–78) E. M. S. Namboodiripad (1978–92) Harkishan Singh Surjeet (1992–2005) Prakash Karat (2005–15) Sitaram Yechury (2015–present)
Current Politburo	Sitaram Yechury Prakash Karat S. Ramachandran Pillai Biman Bose Manik Sarkar Brinda Karat Pinarayi Vijayan Hannan Mollah Kodiyeri Balakrishnan M. A. Baby Surja Kanta Mishra Mohammad Salim Subhashini Ali B. V. Raghavulu G. Ramakrishnan Tapan Kumar Sen Nilotpal Basu
Chief Ministers	E. M. S. Namboodiripad Jyoti Basu Nripen Chakraborty E. K. Nayanar Dasarath Deb Manik Sarkar Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee V. S. Achuthanandan Pinarayi Vijayan
Related organisations	All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) Students' Federation of India (SFI)
Newspapers	People's Democracy The Marxist Deshabhimani Daily Desher Katha Ganashakti Lok Lahar Prajasakti Theekkathir