Kanam Rajendran, a peacemaker who stood for inner party democracy

Kanam Rajendran, CPI State Sec., & Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, CPI(M) Sec., urged student unions to unite & fight serious battles. Both were active in student politics & debuted as legislators in 1982. Kanam was known for being a peacemaker & earned flak from his party. He was a strong pillar of Left unity, safeguarding democratic & secular values. He was well-studied & spoke on issues after doing legwork. He was a stickler for the party's core values & worked closely with CPI & CPI(M). His death was condoled by CPI & CPIM leaders.

When the differences between the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the All-India Students Federation (AISF) took a violent turn in the State in 2019-end, CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran and his counterpart in the CPI(M) Kodiyeri Balakrishnan jointly met the leaders of both student outfits and asked them to bury the hatchet.  

“This is the time for you to stand united and fight more serious battles,” the leaders told the members of their students’ unions. The appeal wasn’t significantly effective. But when Mr. Rajendran and Kodiyeri locked horns over many issues including on the Ordinance to amend the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act of 1999, they made sure that the disagreements between the two major allies of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) did not rock the boat.

There were parallels between Kodiyeri, who died last year while functioning as State secretary of the CPI(M), and Mr. Rajendran. Both were active in student politics and debuted as legislators in the same year, 1982. Mild mannered, both earned the reputation for being peacemakers. Mr. Rajendran faced flak from his party on many occasions for being too soft on the CPI(M).  

“Our differences were over principles and stances but that never really affected our cordial relations,” K.E. Ismail, veteran CPI leader, who was said to have had a long-standing rivalry with Mr. Rajendran in the party, told The Hindu. “We worked together for 60 years in many capacities including as legislators and in the party national council and executive. I was a stickler for the party’s core values,” said Mr. Ismail. Mr. Rajendran’s demise, he said, was a loss to the party as he was well-studied and spoke on issues after doing sufficient legwork.  

Ramesh Chennithala, who debuted in the State Assembly in the same year as Mr. Rajendran, said the friendship he struck with the latter during their days of student politics never faded. Mr. Rajendran never hesitated to speak his mind, he said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called Mr. Rajendran a strong pillar of Left unity who played an unparalleled role in strengthening the unity of the working class and in safeguarding democratic institutions and secular values. As someone who worked closely as a friend and comrade for closer ties between the CPI and the CPI(M), it was even more tragic that his passing came at a time when there was a need for all secular and democratic forces to stay together, Mr. Vijayan said. 

A native of Kottayam, Mr. Rajendran became a member of the CPI State council in 1970 and got elected to the party’s State secretariat when he was just 25 years of age. It gave him a rare opportunity to work with stalwarts such as M.N. Govindan Nair, T.V. Thomas, C. Achutha Menon, N.E. Balaram and Veliyam Bhargavan. In 1970 itself, he became the State secretary of the Kerala State Trade Union Council. His focus and astute trade union work in many capacities in the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) saw formation of trade unions in many unorganised sectors such as cinema, information technology and new age banks.