File photo of V S Achuthanandan
CPI(M) veteran and former Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan, who turned 91 today pledged to carry on his struggles to defend the interests of the working class.
But for a few visitors who called on him to greet him on the day, there were no celebrations at his official residence.
"I will carry on my struggles based on the political line I have followed for all these decades," the nonagenarian leader said.
Mr Achuthanandan, who is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, began his political career through trade unions and joined the Congress in 1939.
He joined the Communist Party of India Marxist CPI(M) in 1964.
His life has been a struggle not only against "injustices and indignities" of a class and caste-driven society, but also "revisionist" trends in his own movement.
He was a founder leader of CPI(M) after the split in undivided CPI in 1964.
Velikkakath Sankaran Achuthanandan was born on October 20, 1923 in a working class family at Punnapra in Alappuzha district.
Compelled to end formal education at the primary stage, he was soon attracted to the fledgling trade union movement in Alappuzha, a bustling commercial town in the early decades of last century.
His life since then has been closely linked with the history of the Communist movement in the state.
He became a CPI(M) politburo member in 1996 but was dropped from the top party body a few years ago for speaking against its official line on a corruption case involving Pinarayi Vijayan.
Mr Achuthanandan headed the LDF ministry in 2006-11, defeating designs by his rivals in the party to sideline him.