P. V. Varghese Vaidyar

Varghese Vaidyar, who was an active member of Indian independence movement, participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942.^[3] He was a member of Indian National Congress party till 1949.^[3] He has been active in the field of public works since the formation of the Wayanad Taluk Revenue Land Owners' Association.^[2] Vaidyar later joined the Communist Party of India and the Kerala Karshaka Sangam (Peasants' Union) at the behest of A. K. Gopalan.^[2] After the split of Communist Party of India in 1964, Vaidyar became member of Communist Party of India (Marxist).^[2] He became prominent in the CPI (M) in the 1970s, leading a series of land struggles in the district, involving agricultural workers and small farmers.^[4] In 1970, Vaidyar was imprisoned along with A. K. Gopalan for participating in the Mudavanmukh agitation for the distribution of surplus land.^[2]

Vaidyar contested the 1982 and 1991 Kerala assembly elections but lost.^[2] He was elected to the 10th Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1996.^[4] He represented Sulthan Bathery Assembly constituency as a CPI (M) candidate.^[3] He had also served as Meenangadi panchayat president for two terms (10 years).^[4] Vaidyar also held several other positions including director of Wayanad District Co-operative Bank, member of the State Housing Board and the North Wayanad Land Board, district secretary and district president of Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union.^[3] He was also the founding chairman of the Brahmagiri Development Society.^[5]

His biography Varghese Vaidyante Athmakatha (ISBN 9788126453337) was published in 2015 by DC Books. The first 4 chapters were written by Varghese himself but could not be completed because of his death, rest has been completed by his son Cherian Kalpakavadi.^[6] His life is depicted by Mohanlal in the Malayalam movie Lal Salaam(1990).