Susheela Gopalan (29 December 1929, at

Muhamma Muhamma is a census town in Cherthala Taluk in Alappuzha district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. It is home to Cheerappanchira kalari, where Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala had his training in the martial arts. Cheera ...

, in Alappuzha,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

– 19 December 2001, at

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

) was an Indian Communist leader and one of the founding members of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

Life

She was elected Member of Parliament thrice, from Ambalappuzha (1967), Alappuzha (1980) and Chirayinkil (1991), and was a Minister in the Government of

for a number of years. Born to the famous

kalari A kalari is a gymnasium or training space primarily associated with the martial art of Kalaripayattu. The word ''kalari'' comes from Malayalam. In the past, village schools in Kerala, typically run by the traditional astrologer families, were kn ...

family,

Cheerappanchira Cheerappanchira is a noble Ezhava tharavad renowned for its Kalari in Muhamma, Alappuzha District. Recently, the family Kalari was reopened and around 40 students are being trained in the martial art of Kalarippayattu. The former minister of K ...

, she was educated in Alappuzha and Trivandrum and joined the Communist Party. She married

A. K. Gopalan Ayillyath Kuttiari Gopalan (1 October 1904 – 22 March 1977), popularly known as A. K. Gopalan or AKG, was an Indian communist politician. He was one of 16 Communist Party of India members elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952. Later he bec ...

in 1952, one of the veterans of the party, who she had met during his years in hiding. She was one of the few women who held major responsibilities in the CPI (M) structure. She was a Minister in a number of LDF cabinets in Kerala. During her last term she was the Minister for Industries and Social Welfare. She lost by one vote to E. K. Nayanar in an election for chief ministership in the state committee of CPI(M), in whose cabinet she became the Minister for Industries and Social Welfare.

References

External links

Condolence by the Polit-bureauJeevitha Katha
* List of members of the 4th Lok Sabha#Kerala 1929 births 2001 deaths Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala Malayali politicians India MPs 1991–1996 Lok Sabha members from Kerala Women in Kerala politics People from Alappuzha district 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women members of the Lok Sabha Communist Party of India politicians from Kerala {{Kerala-CPIndia-politician-stub