India, July 21 -- Vellikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, Kerala's former chief minister and one of CPI(M)'s founding leaders who galvanised party workers with his acerbic oratory and became a darling of the masses for his bold anti-corruption crusades, passed away at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. He was 101.

Achuthanandan was admitted to Thiruvananthapuram's SUT Hospital on June 23 following a cardiac arrest, and was later put on a ventilator after his kidney function deteriorated. There had been some improvement over the past week but it deteriorated rapidly on Monday, leading to his death at 3.20 pm, a hospital bulletin said.

CPI (M) state secretary MV Govindan said the former CM's body would be taken to the AKG s...