ACHIEVEMENTS

Political Life and Achievements

In the year 1957 E M S Namboodiripad created history by leading his Communist party to victory in the Kerala state elections. He was the first non Congress leader to achieve this victory and therefore the first communist leader to organize an elected state government. E M S Namboodiripad was sworn in as the chief minister of Kerala on April 5, 1957.

            The land reform ordinance and the education bill were the most popular policies introduced by the E M S Namboodiripad government in Kerala. However, Namboodiripad had to vacate office in the year 1959 after the central government invoked Article 356 of the Indian constitution, dissolving the Kerala state legislature and imposing the federal rule in Kerala.

            E M S Namboodiripad became the chief minister of Kerala for the second time in the year 1967 after a coalition of seven political parties, including the Communist party and the Muslim League, won by a majority in the state elections. E M S Namboodiripad remained in office for the next two and a half years. E M S Namboodiripad was the leader of the opposition party in the Kerala Legislative Assembly for two terms. The first term extended from 1960 to 1964 and the second term was from the years 1970 to 1977.

            The decentralization of power and resources in the state and the spread of literacy all over Kerala was the chief aim of E M S Namboodiripad throughout his stint as a politician in the Kerala state government.

            E M S Namboodiripad tasted defeat in only a single election in his entire career. His loss was to K P Kuttikrishnan (known widely as the founder of the Trade Union Movement in India) from the Kozhikode constituency. The 1962 Sino - Indian War saw E M S Namboodiripad come to the forefront in favor of the left wing political parties which had come under attack for adopting a pro-China stance. While the entire nation was in a state of confusion, it was only E M S Namboodiripad who stressed that talks with the Chinese authorities could solve the India - China border disputes.