In Kerala, hundreds pay their respects to CPI icon Kanam Rajendran

The air was filled with the words “Priya saghave Kaname” (Dear Comrade, Kanam) and “Jeevikkunnu Njangalilude” (You shall live through us) when CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran’s dead remains were burned at his hometown of Kanam in the Kottayam district of Kerala on Sunday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI national secretary D Raja, members of the state government, and prominent LDF figures attended the state-honored burial of Rajendran, a three-time state secretary and two-time MLA.

Images on television showed ministers and leaders of the CPI, including K Rajan and P Prasad, sobbing as Rajendran’s son lit the funeral pyre at his ancestral house under a tamarind tree.

Thousands gathered in Kanam on Saturday night and Sunday morning to pay their respects to a guy who had included their little hamlet into his political identity and name. These individuals were party employees and well-wishers of the late CPI strongman.

Rajendran, 73, had a heart attack on Friday and died at a private hospital in Kochi. He was receiving medical attention at the hospital for a diabetic-related unhealed cut on his right leg. The course of therapy included amputating his right foot as well.

Due to his health, Rajendran had taken a three-month leave of absence from the party. He had informed party leaders that he would soon resume his duties. Leaders and employees of CPI are devastated by his unexpected passing.

On Saturday morning, the CPI leader’s remains were flown from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram and placed at his home and the CPI state headquarters so that people may pay their respects. Those who paid homage included Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and prominent figures from the LDF and UDF. For a last look at the Communist leader, hundreds of people lined up on both sides of the highways as it was transported by car to Kottayam on Saturday night.

In expressing condolences for Rajendran’s passing on Friday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “With his passing, we have lost one of the strong pillars of the Left unity in Kerala.” His services to upholding secular ideals, safeguarding democratic institutions, and bolstering the Communist movement and proletarian unity are unmatched.

As a member of the CPI central secretariat, Rajendran continued to have a strong position in the governing LDF and often disagreed with the CPM leadership on a range of matters. He had a key role in convincing the CPM to adopt a firm stance, particularly on issues like environmental preservation and corruption, as the head of the second-biggest party in the coalition.

One of the most famous incidents was when Rajendran, in 2017, requested his party’s ministers to abstain from a cabinet meeting to convey that the CPI opposed the continued tenure of Thomas Chandy, the then-NCP minister who had been charged with corruption. In the end, Rajendran prevailed, and Chandy quit as cabinet minister.

Through the CPI’s youth wing, the AIYF, Rajendran gained entry into state politics and, at the age of 19, rose to the position of state secretary in 1969. He led the Kottayam district unit of the CPI twice and was a member of the state secretariat at the age of 26. Twice, in 1982 and 1987, he was chosen to represent Vazhoor in the Assembly. He lost all three of his contests despite trying.