R. Nallakannu’s political life spanned more than eight decades, traversing the freedom movement, agrarian uprisings, ideological splits within the Left, and the changing currents of post-liberalisation India. Born on December 26, 1925 in Srivaikuntam to parents who were farmers, he entered public life as a young student inspired by nationalist ferment and social inequality around him.Drawn initially to the Congress during the freedom struggle, Nallakannu soon became convinced that political Independence alone would not dismantle entrenched systems of caste and class oppression. Influenced by the Swadeshi ideals of V.O. Chidambaram Pillai and the egalitarian vision of Subramania Bharathi, he gravitated toward Marxist thought. In 1944, he joined the Communist Party of India (CPI), marking the beginning of a lifelong commitment to class struggle.Building the agrarian movementIn the years that followed, Nallakannu immersed himself in organising peasants and agricultural labourers, particularly in Tamil Nadu’s delta and southern districts. Working within the Kisan Sabha tradition shaped by leaders such as Sahajanand Saraswati, he mobilised the rural poor around demands for land redistribution, minimum wages, and the abolition of exploitative feudal practices.The slogan “land to the tiller” became central to these campaigns. His work helped strengthen class consciousness among farm workers and challenge the dominance of powerful landlord lobbies. The growing influence of the CPI, however, triggered state repression. After the party was banned in 1948, Nallakannu went underground. Arrested in 1949 in the Nellai conspiracy case, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and endured custodial torture before being released in 1956.The years in prison only deepened his ideological resolve.The man behind the ideologyThose who interacted with Nallakannu often remarked that he combined ideological firmness with personal gentleness. This quality was perhaps most visible in 1995, during a period of intense caste violence in southern Tamil Nadu.That year, four villagers were murdered in what was then V.O. Chidambaranar district, now Thoothukudi. One of the victims was his 84-year-old father-in-law, killed in his sleep. At a time when grief and anger could easily have overwhelmed him, Nallakannu chose to travel from Chennai and join a peace march in riot-affected villages before attending the funeral rites.Observers recall that there was no trace of bitterness in him. The episode revealed a leader who placed social harmony and collective responsibility above personal sorrow.Standing steady through political turbulenceThe split in the Communist movement in the 1960s was another defining moment. While several leaders left to form the CPI(M), Nallakannu remained with the CPI, arguing that division would weaken the broader struggle against poverty and oppression. His contemporary and comrade N. Sankaraiah, who passed away in 2023, shared with him decades of activism and imprisonment.Throughout his career, Nallakannu maintained that Left politics must remain rooted in grassroots mobilisation rather than electoral calculations alone.Leadership beyond electoral politicsAs state secretary of the CPI in Tamil Nadu for 13 years, he strengthened rural party structures and trade unions, leading agitations on agrarian distress, labour rights, price rise and public sector disinvestment. Although he contested elections — including the 1999 Coimbatore parliamentary constituency — he was never elected to legislative office.Yet his influence was measured less in seats won than in movements sustained.In the 1980s, he led a padayatra from Kanyakumari to Chennai demanding accountability in the Bofors scandal. Decades later, at the age of 95, he personally argued before the Madurai bench of the Madras high court against illegal sand mining in the Thamirabarani river, linking environmental degradation to corporate exploitation of rural communities. His prolonged fast contributed to a judicial ban on mining, demonstrating that his understanding of class struggle evolved with changing times.A life of austerityIn an era often marked by conspicuous political power and wealth, Nallakannu lived simply. He resided in a modest government-allotted house in Chennai, survived on a small party allowance and his wife’s pension, and donated monetary awards to public causes or to the party. His personal life reflected his belief that political credibility required ethical consistency.The end of a generationNallakannu passed away on February 25, 2026, at the age of 101 at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. With his death, Tamil Nadu lost one of the last prominent figures who embodied the continuity between the freedom movement and organised class politics.In accordance with his wishes, his body was donated for medical research. He is survived by his two daughters. His wife, Ranjitham, predeceased him.Though he never occupied high public office, Comrade Nallakannu’s legacy endures in the agrarian struggles he helped shape, the workers he organised, and the ethical standards he upheld – a reminder that politics, at its most principled, rests not on power but on conviction.Amir Hyder Khan is a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) student at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.