KR Gouri Amma, veteran communist leader of Kerala passes away at 102

Kerala's first Revenue Minister and Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) leader KR Gouri Amma passed away on Tuesday at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was admitted due to age-related ailments. She was 102 years old.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan expressed anguish over her demise. He took to Twitter and said, "My heartfelt condolences on the demise of Smt K R Gouri Amma, former minister, and veteran political leader. Her exceptional courage and inspiring leadership made her a true symbol of woman empowerment" 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan pays respect

KR Gouri had recently resigned as the state general secretary of the JSS. She held the post since the formation of the party in 1994. The party was formed after Gouri was expelled from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the same year. She had served as the Revenue Minister in the first EMS Namboodiripad government and introduced the revolutionary Land Reforms Bill in 1957.

She also played an important role in presenting the Women's Commission Bill in 1987. One of the longest-serving politicians in Kerala politics, Gouri Amma was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district, she actively participated in trade union and peasant movements and was jailed on a number of occasions. She was elected to the Travancore Council of Legislative Assembly in 1952 and 1954 with an overwhelming majority. After forming JSS, she joined the United Democratic Front (UDF) and was a minister in AK Antony and Oommen Chandy's cabinet before she quit the UDF.

(With ANI Inputs)