Thousands throng to pay last respects to crowd puller V S Achuthanandan

Thiruvananthapuram: Thousands of people are thronging at the AKG study and research centre in Thiruvananthapuram to pay last respects to former chief minister V S Achuthanandan, who had been a crowd puller leader.

As soon as the news of Achuthanandan's death came out by Monday afternoon, people from various walks of life started arriving at the AKG study centre, which was functioning as party state headquarters till AKG centre was recently shifted to a nearby new building.

Senior leaders including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM national general secretary M A Baby accompanied the body that was brought to the AKG study centre by evening from a private hospital where he died. They draped the party flag on Achuthanandan, who was the lone surviving members among those who formed the CPM.

Cutting across age and gender, common people and party workers raised slogans praising his non-compromising stand against corruption. The emotional bonding of common people with VS, as he is popularly known, reflected in the sloganeering.

Congress veteran leader and former defence minister A K Antony and many veteran CPM leaders were among the thousands who thronged the AKG study centre to pay last respects to VS in the initial hours itself.

The police were making elaborate crowd control arrangements anticipating a huge flow of people till the funeral on Wednesday.