CPI buys P. Krishna Pillai’s ancestral property, to build memorial

Vaikkom: The Communist Party of India (CPI) in Kerala has bought a 16.5-cent plot of land in a deal that is well beyond transactional or material value for the party.

The plot, which houses the house of the party’s iconic leader P. Krishna Pillai, was bought by the CPI from the family.

The party will organise the P. Krishna Pillai Day events on the premises with a flag-hoisting.

CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said a memorial which speaks of the party’s history, a library and a museum would be set up there.

The CPI and the larger partner in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), the CPI(M), have both been claiming the political legacy of P. Krishna Pillai. So, the CPI executed the deal in an utmost discreet manner to prevent any political flutter.

The deal was made public only after the land registration formalities were completed. Kanam Rajendran, in his official capacity as the state secretary of the party, will be its ‘owner.’

The CPI(M) had earlier bought the house in Kannarkottu in Muhamma where P. Krishna Pillai died following a snakebite. The party had converted it into a memorial for the late leader.

The CPI office-bearers approached the family after they came to know that the land was up for sale, six months ago.

The plot lies next to the Municipal Ayurveda Hospital. The house does not exist now. The party workers cleared the premises of shrubs and undergrowth.

P. Krishna Pillai was born to Manapalli Narayanan Nair and Parvathy in 1906. He became a coir worker after studies and died of a snakebite on August 19, 1948.

The ancestral properties were divided in 1927 and those who stayed at the place left for Allahabad. The party bought the land from its current owners K.S. Sunish, K.S. Kannan, and Nandini Soman.