T. V. Thomas

T. V. Thomas
T. V. Thomas
1st Minister for Labour & Transport, Government of Kerala
	In office; 5 April 1957 – 31 July 1959
Preceded by	Established
Succeeded by	K.T. Achuthan
Constituency	Alappuzha
Minister for Industries, Government of Kerala
	In office; 6 March 1967, 25 September 1971 – 21 October 1969, 25 March 1977
Preceded by	K. A. Damodara Menon; P. Ravindran;
Succeeded by	P. K. Vasudevan Nair
Constituency	Alappuzha
Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly
	In office; 1957 – 1959
Preceded by	Established
Succeeded by	A. Nafeesath Beevi
Constituency	Alappuzha
Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly
	In office; 1967 – 1977
Preceded by	A. Nafeesath Beevi
Succeeded by	P. K. Vasudevan Nair
Constituency	Alappuzha
Leader of the Opposition, Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly
	In office; 1954 – 1956
Member of the Travancore–Cochin Legislative Assembly
	In office; 1954–1956
	In office; 1952–1954
Personal details
Born	2 July 1910; Alappuzha, Kingdom of Travancore, British India; (present day Kerala, India)
Died	26 March 1977 (aged 66)
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Communist Party of India
Spouse(s)	K. R. Gowri Amma
	As of 12 January, 2012; Source: Kerala niyamasabha

T. V. Thomas (2 July 1910 – 26 March 1977) was an Indian communist leader from Alleppey, Kerala.[1] He was the Minister for Labour and Transport in the First E. M. S. Namboodiripad ministry (5 April 1957 to 31 July 1959), Minister for Industries in the Second E. M. S. Namboodiripad Ministry (6 March 1967 to 21 October 1969) and in the Second Achutha Menon Ministry (25 September 1971 to 25 March 1977).[2] He was also the Opposition Leader in the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly (1954–56).

He entered politics through Travancore State Congress and was its State ccommittee member. He later joined the Communist Party of India when it finally took shape in Kerala in the early 1940s. When the Communist Party split in 1964, he chose to remain with the parent party, CPI.

Council of Ministers (1957–59); T. V. Thomas is fourth from left

He was one of the first generation trade union leaders in Kerala and was actively involved in the Indian independence movement. He was also instrumental in organizing coir workers and farmers in Alleppey and was the leader of Punnapra-Vayalar uprising. Thomas was a visionary leader and as Minister for Industries, he was responsible for building up infrastructure for the industrial sector in Kerala which had blazed a path of industrialization but unfortunately was not carried forward by the succeeding ministers.[3]

He was married to a veteran politician and former minister K. R. Gowri Amma. Their private life has been subjected to public scrutiny because when the Communist Party split in 1964, Gowri Amma joined the newly formed Communist Party of India (Marxist); Thomas remained with the CPI. Though they were both ministers in the United Front government in 1967, they were estranged and belonged to different political parties. The couple separated in 1965 on ideological grounds but lived together in the same house. Thomas died on 26 March 1977 aged 67, after a long battle with cancer.

Thomas was an atheist like most of his contemporary communist leaders. A controversy erupted in 2015 when former archbishop Joseph Powathil claimed that Thomas wanted to come back to Christianity and receive the Holy Communion while in his deathbed. However, several of his contemporaries including Gowri Amma rejected the claims, saying Thomas had never abandoned his faith in Communism.[4][5]

In popular culture

Lal Salam is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language political-drama film directed by Venu Nagavalli and produced under the banner K. R. G. Release. It stars Mohanlal, Murali, Geetha, and Urvashi in the lead roles. This movie was a major blockbuster, running in seven centres for more than 150 days.

The story revolves around two phases of the lives of three comrades - before and after the imprisonment of Sakhavu Stephen Nettooran (Mohanlal- inspired from Varghese Vaidyan), Sakhavu D.K. Antony (Murali- inspired from T. V. Thomas ) and Sakhavu Sethulakshmi (Geetha- inspired From Smt. K. R. Gowri Amma) - members of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

In 2020, The Wire published a review of the acclaimed film noting that the film had received cult status.[6]

References

"SHRI. T.V. THOMAS". Firstministry.kerala.gov.in. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
"Kerala Niyamasabha: T.V. Thomas". Stateofkerala.in. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
"Birth centenary celebrations of T.V. Thomas begin". The Hindu. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
KPM Basheer (17 November, 2005). "Once Communist idol, Gouri now bows to a temple ritual". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
"TV Thomas never received the Holy Communion: KR Gouri". Malayala Manorama. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
"Rewinding to the Times When Malayalam Cult Film 'Lal Salam' Swayed the Masses". The Wire. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

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[1] "SHRI. T.V. THOMAS". Firstministry.kerala.gov.in. Retrieved 1 January 2018.

[2] "Kerala Niyamasabha: T.V. Thomas". Stateofkerala.in. Retrieved 18 October 2018.

[3] "Birth centenary celebrations of T.V. Thomas begin". The Hindu. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2018.

[4] KPM Basheer (17 November, 2005). "Once Communist idol, Gouri now bows to a temple ritual". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2018.

[5] "TV Thomas never received the Holy Communion: KR Gouri". Malayala Manorama. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018.

[6] "Rewinding to the Times When Malayalam Cult Film 'Lal Salam' Swayed the Masses". The Wire. Retrieved 27 January 2021.