Steering through history: E.V. Arjunan remembers his time as driver with V.S. Achuthanandan

For around three decades, E.V. Arjunan was more than just a driver to V.S. Achuthanandan — he was a silent witness to history unfolding from the front seat.

From early morning rides to late-night returns, Mr. Arjunan chauffeured the veteran leader across Kerala, through political storms and quiet moments alike. As the State bids farewell to its beloved former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition, Arjunan, a native of Vayalar in Alappuzha, looks back on the countless miles they travelled together.

“In 1992, I unexpectedly became his driver. I took up the job initially with hesitation. Once I became his permanent driver, I was with him until he fell ill in 2019 and moved into a life of rest,” says Mr. Arjunan.

He recalls that in 1992, during a visit to Kuttanad, the car in which Achuthanandan was travelling broke down. As the stepney was also flat, Mr. Arjunan, who was then a driver for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] district committee, was assigned to take over Achuthanandan’s journey. “I dropped V.S. at his house at Punnapra and returned. The very next day, the task of taking him to Thiruvananthapuram also came to me. I soon became his regular driver,” Mr. Arjunan says.

‘A man of ethics’

He says Achuthanandan was a very strict person. “He was a man of ethics. Most of the time, he spoke with seriousness. But he also shared many good things with me. Those have been of great value in life,” Mr. Arjunan says.

He was his driver when he became Leader of the Opposition, Chief Minister and Chairperson of the State Administrative Reforms Commission. “The last time I saw him was in December 2022 at his house in Thiruvananthapuram. Though he was unable to speak, he smiled at me,” he says, adding that people of Alappuzha will give him a “deserving farewell.”