CM Vijayan, other political leaders make a beeline to meet ailing Achuthanandan

Thiruvananthapuram, June 24 (IANS) Top political leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Tuesday visited veteran CPI-M leader and former Kerala Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan, who is admitted to a private hospital here.

CM Vijayan spent a few minutes with the immediate family members of Achuthanandan at the hospital before leaving the medical facility.

Soon after, a medical bulletin from the hospital was issued, saying that Achuthanandan, currently in the intensive care unit, has shown a marginal improvement.

The 101-year-old veteran leader was admitted to the hospital on Monday after his son-in-law, who is a doctor, gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) when the leader suffered a suspected cardiac arrest while at home.

Other top leaders who visited Achuthanandan at the hospital include CPI(M) general secretary M. A. Baby, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswan and others.

State Governor Rajendra V. Arlekar is also keeping a close tab on the health of Achuthanandan and is expected to visit him.

Since January 2021, after quitting as Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Committee, the veteran leader has been staying at he homes of his son or daughter, both of whom reside in the state capital city, while the house he built remains closed at Alappuzha.

Achuthanandan, during his stint as the Leader of Opposition from 2001-2006, was at the forefront of attacking the then A.K. Antony government.

Achuthanandan was able to win the hearts of many apolitical voters, which helped him lead the CPI-M-led LDF to win the 2006 Assembly polls and go on to become the chief minister.

He then led the LDF in the 2011 Assembly polls, and he almost won a second successive term, but at the end of the counting of votes, the Oommen Chandy-led UDF managed to sneak through with the most slender lead (72 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly).

--IANS

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