P. K. Vasudevan Nair

P. K. Vasudevan Nair Biography

P. K. Vasudevan Nair popularly known as PKV, was the 9th Chief Minister of Kerala and a senior leader of Communist Party of India. He became Chief Minister on October 20, 1978, following A. K. Antony's resignation as Chief Minister as his protect against choosing Indira Gandhi as the candidate of Chikmagalur Lok Sabha byelection. He has been elected to Lok Sabha four times - in 1957, 1962, 1967 and 2004, and to the Kerala Legislative Assembly twice, in 1977 and 1980.

P. K. Vasudevan Nair was born in Kidangur village of Kottayam district. He was studying at Union Christian College, Aluva when last phase of Indian freedom struggle was going on. He was active in politics in those days. He was attracted towards the principles of Communist party and joined the Communist Party of India in 1945. He emerged as a youth leader and became president of Travancore Students’ Union in 1947. He became President of All Kerala Students Federation in the following year.

He was arrested for the first time following his speech against kings of Travancore. PKV was among list of communists who went underground when the Communist Party of India was banned in the country. He actively participated in the underground activities of the party during 1948–51 and was arrested in 1951. Vasudevan Nair had acted as the president of All Kerala Students Federation, AIYF and WFDY.  

When the Communist Party split in 1964 he threw his lot with the CPI. In the Kerala Assembly elections held after the emergency he was elected to the Kerala Assembly in 1977. He was the Industries Minister in the Karunakaran and A.K. Antony ministries from April 1977 to October 1978. When Antony resigned in 1979 PKV became Chief Minister with the support of the Congress on October 29, 1978. When Left Democratic Front (LDF) was formed one year later, he left his power to join the party and resigned his chief minister post on 7 October 1979. He was MP from Thiruvananthapuram constituency (elected in 2004) when he died on 12 July 2005 following multiple organ failure.

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Updated: October 09, 2013