JOIN USGowri Amma, who turns 90 next month, entered public life in 1946. She suffered jail sentences and “unimaginable torture” at the hands of the police during her early years. Undeterred, she climbed the echelons of the Communist party as a student leader, trade unionist and leader of the peasant struggle. She became the longest serving member of the State assembly (11 times) and minister six times. As revenue minister in the Namboodiripad ministry, it was Gowri Amma who piloted the revolutionary land reforms bill which set the pace for the development of the State.
However, neither did she get elevated to the central leadership of the Marxist party nor became the chief minister. The CPM dumped her after projecting her as a chief ministerial probable in 1987 and plumped for E K Nayanar instead. She was expelled from the CPM in 1994 for anti-party activities following which she launched her own party, the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithy.