Kerala's veteran politician KR Gowri Amma passes away

KR Gowri Amma, one of the tallest leaders of Kerala politics died on May 11 morning. She passed away at 7 am at PRS hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.She was 102. Gowri Amma was admitted at the hospital in April due to a fever caused by a viral infection. Her condition turned critical a week ago and she was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit.

Gowri Amma's life and her political career stand unparalleled in the history of the state, a pioneer who fought many odds. She was the first woman lawyer from the Ezhava community, categorised as Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.

Born in June 1919 at Pattanakkad village of Alappuzha, Gowri Amma joined the Communist party in 1948 and her political career grew with the party. She stood with the CPI(M) post the split of the Communist party in 1964, while her husband and veteran leader TV Thomas supported the CPI.

In 1994, the CPI(M) expelled Gowri Amma for 'anti-party activities. She then floated her own political outfit named Janathipathya Samrakshana Samithi based in Alappuzha. In 2021 she stepped down as the General Secretary of the JSS due to poor health.

She was the longest-serving MLAs of the state after KM Mani, the late patriarch of the Kerala Congress(M). Gowri Amma contested elections 11 times and won eight times. She had handled an array of portfolios as a minister in 1957, 1967, 1980 and 1987.

Gowri Amma presented the revolutionary Land Reforms Bill in 1957 while she was the Revenue Minister, which drastically transformed land ownership rights in the state. It was in 1957 that the first Communist government in the state came to power.  It was also the first time an elected Communist government in the world came to power.