By Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Veteran Communist and chief of Janadipathya Samrakshana Samiti (JSS) Okay R Gouri died right here on Tuesday. She was 101.
She was admitted at a personal hospital within the state capital for the previous few weeks following age-related illnesses. She breathed her final at 7 am. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health minister KK Shailaja had visited her within the hospital lately.
A legendary political chief within the historical past of Kerala, she was the longest serving lady minister within the state. Elected to the Legislative Assembly 10 instances, she was minister for 16 years as a part of six completely different governments. She had helmed varied key portfolios together with Revenue, Excise, Industries, Food and Agriculture.
Gouri was born on July 14, 1919, at Pattanakad village in Alappuzha district because the seventh daughter of Okay A Raman and Parvathi Amma. She did her education at Thuravoor and Charthala whereas finishing her commencement from Maharaja’s College Ernakulam. She additionally acquired a Law diploma from Government Law College, Ernakulam.
Prior to the formation of JSS, she was a distinguished determine within the Communist motion in Kerala. She was a minister within the communist-led ministries of Kerala govts in 1957, 1967, 1980, and 1987 and likewise grew to become a minister within the Congress-led Cabinet from 2001 to 2006. She is without doubt one of the oldest serving politicians in Kerala politics.
Under the affect of her elder brother and commerce union chief Sukumaran, she entered politics at a time when girls hardly discovered themselves in politics. Starting her public life by way of commerce union and peasant actions, Gouri was jailed on various events for collaborating in political actions. She was elected to the Travancore Council of Legislative Assembly within the yr 1952 and 1954 with an awesome majority. She grew to become Revenue Minister within the first communist ministry in 1957, headed by EMS Namboothiripad.
#SimplyIn: Okay R Gouri Amma, 102, one of many founding leaders of the #Communist motion in #Kerala and the one lady member within the first Kerala cabinet (1957), passes away. @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/ENBEIyQF7m
— TNIE Kerala (@xpresskerala) May 11, 2021
In 1957, she married T V Thomas, a distinguished politician and likewise a minister in EMS ministry. After the break up of Communist social gathering in 1964, Okay R Gouri joined the newly shaped Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM). But her husband, T V Thomas, stood with the Communist Part of India (CPI). This created fissures of their relationship and shortly they parted owing to the variations of their political opinions.
In 1994, she was expelled from CPM on expenses of anti-party actions.
Following this she established a brand new political social gathering JSS. JSS went on to affix the UDF, the arch-rivals of the LDF to which CPM belongs. She served because the Minister of Agriculture within the A Okay Antony and Oomman Chandy ministries.
In 2016, she severed relations with the UDF as a result of debacle of her social gathering within the 2016 meeting elections. Later, her social gathering joined fingers with the LDF however right here additionally the social gathering did not get deserving illustration.
The social gathering break up into many fractions, nevertheless, Gouri and her supporters at all times maintained a pro-Left inclination.
Though there have been a number of makes an attempt made to deliver her again into the Communist fold, it now stays an unfulfilled dream – each for her and the Communist motion in Kerala.
