Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader TJ Chandrachoodan (82) passed away on Monday. He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the state capital. Chandrachoodan was the general secretary of RSP from 2008 to 2018.
Born on April 20, 1940 in Thiruvananthapuram, Chandrachoodan excelled in academics and oratory skills. He also secured a rank for his under graduation. He entered active politics through RSP youth wing. He also worked at K Balakrishnan’s Kaumudi for a brief period. Chandrachoodan also taught at the Shastamcotta Devaswom Board College. He became a member of the RSP in 1975 and the state secretary of the party in 1999.
He had contested the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections in 1982 and 2006 from the Trivandrum West and Aryanad constituencies, but ended up as the second-placed candidate both times. Chandrachoodan had regretted his party’s rift with the Left Democratic Front that led to its exit from the CPM-led grouping more than a decade ago.
Chandrachoodan was the third Keralite to lead the left party that was founded in 1940. Baby John and K Pankajakshan were the other two general secretaries from Kerala. The RSP had quit the LDF after being denied a seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. It joined the United Democratic Front and successfully contested from the Kollam seat where from N K Premachanran emerged victorious. But the party couldn’t send a single representative to the state polls held in 2016. RSP leaders, including Chandrachoodan, strongly felt the tie-up with the UDF led to its decimation.
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