E. M. S. Namboodiripad

E.M.S. Namboodiripadi
Chief Minister of Kerala
In office 5 April 1957 – 31 July 1959
In office 6 March 1967 – 1 November 1969
Personal details
Born	June 13, 1909(1909-06-13) Perinthalmanna, Madras Presidency,  British Raj
Died	19 March 1998(1998-03-19) (aged 88)
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Spouse(s)	Arya Antarjanam
Children	2 sons and 2 daughters
Religion	Atheist
Source	Government of Kerala

Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad, (Malayalam: ഏലങ്കുളം മനക്കല്‍ ശങ്കരന്‍ നമ്പൂതിരിപ്പാട്, June 13, 1909 – March 19, 1998), popularly known as EMS, was an Indian Communist leader and the first Chief Minister of Kerala. As the first non-Congress chief minister in independent India, he became the leader of the first democratically elected communist government in the world. He was renowned as a socialist and a Marxist theorist.

Personal life

EMS was born on June 13, 1909, the son of Parameswaran Namboodirippad, at Elamkulam, in Perinthalmanna taluk of the present Malappuram district. In his early years, 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. During his college days, he was deeply associated with the Indian National Congress and Indian Independence Movement.

He was a writer and author of several literary works and his book on the history of Kerala is notable.^[1][2]

Socialism

In 1934, he was one of the founder leaders of Congress Socialist Party, a socialist wing within the Indian National Congress and was elected as its All India Joint Secretary from 1934 to 1940. During this period he was also elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly (1939).

He remained committed to socialist ideals and his compassion towards the downtrodden working class made him join the ranks of the Communist movement. He was considered to be one of the founders of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in Kerala, for which he had to go in hiding for some time. During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, he was among those 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 served as a member of the Central Committee and the Politburo of the CPI(M), before becoming its General Secretary in 1977, a designation he held until 1992. He was a member of the party Politburo until his death.

Election to state Government

Communism in India

Communist Party of India AITUC - AIKS - AIYF AISF - NFIW - BKMU

Communist Party of India (Marxist) CITU - AIKS - DYFI SFI - AIDWA - GMP

Communist Ghadar Party of India Naxalbari uprising Communist Party of India (M-L) Liberation - New Democracy Janashakti - PCC - 2nd CC Red Flag - Class Struggle Communist Party of India (Maoist)

Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) AIUTUC - AIMSS AIDYO - AIDSO

M. N. Roy Abani Mukherji A. K. Gopalan P. Krishna Pillai P. C. Joshi P. Sundarayya Ajoy Ghosh K. Damodaran E. M. S. Namboodiripad Chandra Rajeshwar Rao Azhikodan Raghavan Bhupesh Gupta V. S. Achuthanandan E. K. Nayanar Guru Radha Kishan B. T. Ranadive Charu Majumdar Jyoti Basu S. A. Dange Shibdas Ghosh E. K. Imbichi Bava T. Nagi Reddy

Tebhaga movement CCOMPOSA Telangana Rebellion Comrades Association Communist Party of French India

Communism World Communist Movement

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During his political career, EMS was defeated only once in the public elections, when he lost to K.P.Kuttikrishnan Nair (the founder leader of Trade Union Movement in India) of the Indian National Congress by a huge margin from the Kozhikode constituency. In 1957, EMS led the Communists to victory in the first election for the state government, making him the first communist leader anywhere to head a popularly elected government.^[3] It was also the first time for a regional party anywhere in India to win state elections. On 5 April 1957 he was appointed as the first chief minister of Kerala. His government soon introduced the Land Reform Ordinance and Education Bill. His government was dismissed in 1959 by the Central Government, which invoked the controversial Article 356 of the Indian Constitution following what later became known as 'The Liberation Struggle'. He became the Chief Minister of Kerala for the second time in 1967 as the leader of a seven-party coalition including the Muslim League. This time his tenure lasted for two and a half years.

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

Sino-Indian war

During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when left wing parties were under attack for their pro-China stance, he laid stress on the significance of solving the border dispute through talks.^[1]

Association with Progressive Movement for Arts and Letters

EMS, Kesari Balakrishna Pillai, Joseph Mundassery, M. P. Paul and K. Damodaran were architects of "Jeevat Sahitya Prastanam", which later came to known as Purogamana Sahitya Prastanam. (Progressive Association for Arts and Letters). Though Kesari was considered to be one of the visionaries of the Progressive Movement of Arts and Letters of Kerala, serious difference of opinion emerged later between full-time Communist Party activists and other personalities, namely Kesari and Joseph Mundassery. In this context, EMS famously called Kesari a "Petit-Bourgeois intellectual", which he later corrected. EMS 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

EMS died on March 19, 1998. He was married to Smt. Arya Antharjanam and had two sons and two daughters.

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

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Namboodiripad's writings
2. ^ Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi, p 294
3. ^ Olle Törnquist (1991). "Communists and democracy: Two Indian cases and one debate". Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars (Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars) 23 (2): 63–76. ISSN 0007-4810. http://criticalasianstudies.org/assets/files/bcas/v23n02.pdf. . Page 63 states: "The first democratically elected communist-led government in the world 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 ofthe following state governments."

External links

Media related to E. M. S. Namboodiripad at Wikimedia Commons

• E. M. S. Namboodiripad at Kerala Chief Minister Official Website

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

Persondata
Name	Namboodiripad, E. M. S.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 June 1909
Place of birth	Perinthalmanna, Madras Presidency, British India
Date of death	19 March 1998
Place of death