L J Ravi Condolence Message From Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, CPI(M) On the Death of Gauri Amma
It is with deep pain and grief that I receive the news of the death of K.R. Gauri Amma, an outstanding leader of the people’s movement in Kerala.
Gauri Amma was the Minister for Revenue, Excise and Devasom in the first communist government elected in Kerala, headed by EMS Nambooridipad in 1957. She is credited with being one of the architects of land reforms in Kerala.
Even before the formation of the present state of Kerala, she was elected to the Travancore-Kochi legislative assembly on two occasions. She was a minister in various governments in the state including the one headed by the United Democratic Front for some time after she was expelled from the CPI(M) in 1994. However, disillusioned with the UDF she had been cooperating with the Left Democratic Front for the past few years.
Married to another stalwart of the Communist movement in Kerala, T.V. Thomas, Gauri Amma sided with the CPI(M) when the split in the united party took place in 1964, even while Thomas remained in the CPI.
In her departure Kerala has lost the last among the remaining members of the 1957 Communist Ministry headed by EMS Namboodiripad. Kerala has lost one of its illustrious daughters who commanded wide respect and admiration.
I pay tributes to her memory and join the people of Kerala in mourning her loss.
