R Nallakannu, CPI Leader, Dies at 101: A Life of Ideological Commitment and Austerity

In 2019, when the state govt asked occupants of houses allotted by Tamil Nadu Housing Board to vacate the place where it was planning a commercial complex, among the list of evacuees were CPI leader R Nallakannu and the family of Congress leader P Kakkan, both men known for their ideological commitment and austere living.

Nallakannu then told TOI: “I’ve moved to my daughter’s house in K K Nagar; but look how Kakkan’s family is being treated.” Another person’s suffering was always Nallakannu’s. So, millions called him ‘Thozhar RNK’.


Nallakannu, who died in Chennai on Wednesday at the age of 101, represented a generation of leaders shaped by the freedom struggle and guided by ideological discipline rather than personal ambition. A true communist, Nallakannu’s personal stature often transcended the strength of his party in a state dominated by Dravidian majors.

Born in 1925, the same year CPI was founded, as the third of ten children in a rich landlord’s family in Srivaikundam, Tuticorin, Nallakannu was drawn to the freedom struggle as a teenager. Books of Karl Marx and Engels, introduced to him by freedom fighter `Annachi’ Shanmugam and schoolteacher Palavesham Chettiar propelled him towards the communist movement. By the mid-1940s, he had become an active member of CPI, organising agitations for the rights of farmers and salt pan workers in Tuticorin.

Soon, detentions and police action became part of everyday life for Nallakannu. Like fellow comrade N Sankaraiah (who went with CPM when the party split in 1964 and went on to become the state secretary), Nallakannu was one of the few who were arrested by the British before 1947 as well as by Indian authorities after independence. He suffered custodial torture during his imprisonment in 1949, a year after CPI was banned in India.

“A police officer singed his mustache using a cigarette,’’ CPI’s state secretary M Veerapandian said earlier. Nallakannu later stopped sporting a mustache. Nallakannu was arrested on multiple occasions by various govts. His associates recall his discipline in jails — rising early, reading extensively and conducting political discussions inside the prison. Lenin and Stalin were his reading material; he was also influenced by the speeches and writings of Ambedkar and Subramania Bharathi.

Over the decades, Nallakannu became a towering leader of CPI in Tamil Nadu and a prominent voice of the Left in other states too. In 1958 he married Ranjitham Ammal, daughter of a local communist functionary. Ranjitham Ammal, who was also ideologically inclined to the Left, died in 2016.

TN left leaders credit Nallakannu for the party’s grassroots growth in a state dominated by Dravidian parties. People’s problems became his own. He took up labour issues, fought for farmers’ rights and waged an unending war against caste atrocities. He strove for conservation of rivers and prevention of illegal sand mining. Growing up along the banks of Thamirabarani, the river was close to his heart. His campaign for protecting Thamirabarani from illegal sand mining earned him respect even from political opponents. He fought a legal battle to stop a soft drinks manufacturing unit from drawing water from the river.

Frugality was his identity. Nallakannu continued to live modestly, maintaining minimal personal possessions. A dhoti, half sleeved white shirt with a pen tucked in the pocket and a broad smile – that was Thozhar RNK. Long time associates recount that he was meticulous with party funds, maintaining accounts down to the last rupee.
DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi once described Nallakannu as “a man whose life itself is a lesson in simplicity and commitment.” J Jayalalithaa, despite ideological differences with the Left, was always warm towards Nallakannu. While greeting him, she once said, “Leaders of conviction enrich public life.” Chief minister M K Stalin called Nallakannu “a guiding light of principled politics.”

Well into his 90s, Nallakannu continued to attend protests, address gatherings and issue statements on agrarian distress and federal rights. “He would not mind even if it was blazing hot, he would participate in protests along with younger cadres,’’ said former CPI state secretary R Mutharasan.

In his later years, Nallakannu was concerned about the Left’s diminishing support base. He knew the reasons too. “When we fight for farm labourers and dalits, only those concerned about those issues back us,” he once said. “But the Left ideology is forever,” he said.

Nallakannu never won an election, though he contested two assembly elections and one Lok Sabha election. Nallakkannu shrugged off the defeats, saying there were multiple factors behind the debacles. “I am not concerned about electoral defeats. Neither are my comrades,” he said. “Because we are communists.”

(With inputs from Julie Mariappan)