Yahoo Finance Veteran Kerala politician KR Gouri Amma critical, admitted to ICU
Veteran Kerala politician KR Gouri Amma was shifted to an intensive care unit after her condition worsened on Wednesday. Gouri Amma was admitted to a Thiruvananthapuram hospital with fever and shortness of breath in April 2021. She was being treated in the emergency department and was moved to a general ward after her health condition improved. She has now been shifted to the ICU once again as her condition worsened.
In February 2021, Gouri Amma stepped down as the General Secretary of JSS - (Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi) shortly after she was named president of the party. The decision was taken due to Gouri Amma’s deteriorating health condition.
The 102-year-old is one of the founding members of the communist movement in the state of Kerala. She held the post of JSS General Secretary since the formation of the party in 1994.
The party was formed when Gouri Amma was expelled from the CPI(M). The 102-year-old was key to introducing the revolutionary Land Reforms Bill in 1957, when she held the post of Revenue Minister in the EMS Namboodiripad government.
She also helped draft and present the Women’s Commission Bill of 1987 apart from presenting the anti-corruption bill the same year.
Gouri Amma was attracted to politics at a young age due to her brother Sukumaran, who was a political activist and led many trade unions in Kerala. Gouri and Sukumaran were born to KA Ramanan and Parvathy Amma in Alappuzha. Her father insisted on educating his daughter, and as a result, Gouri had the distinction of being the first Ezhava woman in Kerala to hold a degree in law.
She married TV Thomas (popularly known as TV) in 1957, who was another tall leader of the communist movement in Kerala. During the split of the communist party into CPI and the CPI(M) in 1964, TV stood with the CPI while Gouri Amma stood with the CPI(M).
During the 1987 Assembly elections, Gouri Amma was touted to be the next Chief Minister, which would have made her the first female CM of Kerala. The Assembly elections were fought with the slogan “Keralanaattil KR Gouri Amma bharikkum” (KR Gouri Amma will rule Kerala). However, she was later denied the post of CM.
