Pannian Ravindran: Thiruvananthapuram’s Left candidate who’s lived in party office for 40 years

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Pannian Ravindran, the 78-year-old veteran communist leader – tall and lanky with shoulder-length hair – is quite a contrast to his two rivals contesting the Lok Sabha election from Kerala’s capital city of Thiruvananthapuram.

Pannian, known as Pannian Sakhavu (comrade Pannian) among party colleagues and Ravi ettan (brother Ravi) among others, faces the Congress party’s three-time MP Shashi Tharoor (68) and Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar (59).

Though Tharoor and Chandrasekhar belong to different ideologies, they share some commonalities—both wear trademark kurtas and dhotis, both are foreign educated, both speak less-than-fluent Malayalam (often preferring to say ‘Trivandrum’ instead of ‘Thiruvananthapuram’), and both have been Union ministers.

While Tharoor is a diplomat-turned-politician, Chandrasekhar is a technocrat-turned-politician. In contrast, Pannian, who dropped out of school in the sixth grade due to poverty, joined politics at the age of 15 and loves to read.

Wealth, too, separates Pannian from his rivals.

According to Tharoor’s election affidavit, his assets are valued at ₹55 crore, while Chandrasekhar has about ₹28 crore (The Congress has approached the Kerala High Court, alleging that Chandrasekhar filed a false affidavit about his assets and income in his nomination papers).

In comparison, Pannian and his wife together have assets of ₹14 lakh. Pannian himself has declared cash in hand of ₹3,000 and ₹59,729 in bank savings – a total of ₹62,729. He owns land worth Rs 5 lakh, along with a 1,600 square foot house in Kannur worth ₹11 lakh.

His only source of income is ₹25,000 per month in pension as a former MP. His wife has declared cash in hand of ₹2,000 and owns 48 grams of gold worth ₹2.5 lakh.

Party office home for 40 years

Although he has a house in Kannur, Pannian, a former CPI state secretary, has lived by himself in a room at the CPI state council office near Model School Junction in Thiruvananthapuram for the past 42 years. The CPI has 17 MLAs in Kerala, four of whom serve as ministers in the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government.

Pannian recently moved to the office of the Joint Council, the trade union wing of the CPI’s state government employees, near the secretariat, due to renovation at his previous accommodation.

His wife stays in Kannur, and he occasionally takes the train to visit his family.

The CPI leader is a football fan and a commentator and has written three books on the game. His day starts with lemon tea, puttu (rice cake), and a banana from the nearby teashop.

“I have a cupboard full of books in the party office,” he beamed in pride. “I will be shifted there once the renovation is over.”

Asked why he hasn’t bought or rented a house to bring his wife to the state capital, the senior CPI leader explained, “I receive an MP pension of ₹25,000 per month. I need to pay ₹4,000 every month to the party as a levy, leaving me with ₹21,000. Renting a house in Thiruvananthapuram requires a minimum of ₹10,000. Though many well-wishers have offered me houses, I’ve politely declined because I prefer not to accept favours from anyone.”

Pannian doesn’t own a vehicle and prefers not to travel in state government cars.

“The party is beyond the government, so I always avoid red-board government cars,” he said, referring to some official vehicles that are fitted with boards displaying department names or designations.

Born into a poor family, Pannian’s father passed away when he was only 11 years old.

“The party has given me everything beyond my expectations. I will die as a communist,” he said.

Reluctant candidate

Pannian contested the 2005 Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha by-poll and was elected as an MP. In 2009, the CPI asked him to contest again, but he politely declined the request. This time too, he was reluctant, but the CPI, which lost its national party status, insisted on him since they could not find any other popular candidate in the constituency.

In 2011, he contested in the assembly polls in Paravur, Ernakulam, but lost to senior Congress leader and opposition leader VD Satheesan, who has been unbeaten in the constituency since 2001.

“This is a crucial election in the country, so the party asked me to contest. I have the responsibility to fight against the fascist BJP and also the Congress, which often compromises the vision of an inclusive India, so the Left is the only alternative,” he told Moneycontrol.

“I don’t have money to spend like the other two crorepatis (Tharoor and Chandrasekhar). I haven’t even seen ₹1 crore in my lifetime, but I have crores of people with me. However, I receive donations from people, even from poor auto drivers and daily wage workers who contribute as little as ₹10 for the campaign,” he said.

Pannian’s candidature makes the election a three-way fight in Thiruvananthapuram, and not just a contest between the Congress and the BJP.

“I was hurt when Tharoor said that the fight is only between him and Chandrasekhar in this election. That is his arrogance,” he said. “UPA-1 delivered better governance since the Left was part of it. The INDIA alliance should come to power with the support of the Left. The views of Congress and BJP leaders are alike, so there is a need to have more Left MPs in Parliament to raise the issues of the common people,” said Pannian.

He said his vision is to develop railway infrastructure, an AIIMS, metro rail, and a high court bench for Thiruvananthapuram, and he plans to raise these issues in Parliament.

“The sitting MP has not even done 10% of the work that I did when I was the MP from Thiruvananthapuram,” he claimed.

Long hair

There is a story behind Pannian’s long hair.

“I decided to grow my hair as a reminder of the police atrocities during the Emergency (1975-1977). At that time, hippie culture was popular, and many young people had long hair. The then police sub-inspector in Kannur, Pulikkodan Narayanan, used to take youngsters to the police station and shave their long hair. I believed it was a violation of our freedom, so I decided to grow my hair like hippies as a mark of protest. I’ve cut my hair only once – for a cancer patient who lost her hair after radiation treatment.” said Pannian.

Campaign trail

Cheenikonam in Vattiyoorkavu, situated in northeast Thiruvananthapuram, was in a festive mood. Old Malayalam revolutionary songs of the Communist Party filled the air as a group of youngsters beat their drums in sync with the music.

Members of various Left parties set up a red table and red chairs at the junction. They adorned the table with flowers – bougainvillea, cassia fistula (golden shower), and even jackfruit and mangoes gifted by locals for candidate Pannian.

Cheenikonam served as a pitstop for the candidate and his campaign team during the afternoon break. The CPI’s flag with its symbol – ears of corn and sickle – along with his posters and red festoons were tied up on the electricity poles. However, they had fewer posters and banners than the other parties.

“These are all crowdfunded by us and like-minded individuals in this area. The people love Pannian, so they give him fruits and other gifts. He gives back to the people, and some of the shawls he received were donated to old age homes,” said a CPI leader.

An elderly woman in mundu, blouse and thorthu (dhoti, blouse and thin towel) gifted him a jackfruit grown in her yard.

“Pannian Sakhavu (Comrade Pannian) is an ordinary man. He is very down to earth,” she said.

A local leader was collating a list of members who would welcome him with flowers and towels, while another was making red garlands using ribbons.

A few minutes later, an announcement vehicle arrived, followed by a red campaign vehicle with Pannian accompanied by Vattiyoorkavu MLA VK Prashanth.

The sun was beating down and Pannian was visibly tired. He waved and smiled. Party workers on scooters waved red flags and set off crackers. He climbed down from the vehicle and delivered a speech. He was offered jackfruits, mangoes, and red ribbons.

He spoke in Malayalam, opposing both the Congress and the BJP and emphasising that the Left is the alternative. He hugged an auto driver and reminded him to vote.

Another elderly woman approached him, and his first question to her was, “Oonu kazhicho? (Have you had lunch)?”

“I’ve received an overwhelming response from the people, especially women who wait for us even until 11 pm. I’m confident of winning this election. They gave me fruits, vegetables, and flowers, and that love is from the bottom of the heart and cannot be bought with money,” said Pannian, who then proceeded to a party worker’s home for lunch.

A young man sitting outside a shop was asked what he thought of Pannian as a candidate.

“Nalla manushan (a good human being),” he responded.

“Will you vote for him?”

He smiled with a half-nod.

Kerala votes on April 26.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow