Peerumade MLA Vazhoor Soman passes away

Senior Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and Peerumade MLA Vazhoor Soman passed away on Thursday (August 21, 2025). He was 72.

Mr. Soman collapsed while attending a revenue assembly at PTP Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and was rushed to a hospital but his life could not be saved. He is survived by his wife, Bindu, and sons, Sobin and Sobith.

Mr. Soman served as AITUC State vice-president and State Warehousing Corporation chairman. He was first elected as an MLA in the 2021 Assembly elections and defeated United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Cyriac Thomas with a margin of 1,835 votes.

A native of Vazhoor in Kottayam district, Mr. Soman started his political career as a trade union leader in the plantation sector in Peerumade. He worked for the welfare of plantation workers.

According to CPI State council member Jose Philip, Mr. Soman arrived in the Peerumade hills in the 1974-75 period and joined AIYF and AISF. “During the 1978 period, he was elected the High Range Estates Union general secretary. For a long time, he was associated with former MLA and CPI leader C.A. Kuriyan in the plantation sector in Peerumade,” said Mr. Philip.

“He worked as a member of the Plantation Labour Committee (PLC) and raised his voice to ensure proper wages and life security for plantation workers,” Mr. Philip added.

“We were working to publish a development report about the Peerumade Assembly constituency in October. The plan was to hold a five-day journey across the constituency after the publication of the report,” said Mr. Philip.

As a legislator, Mr. Soman had raised his voice for the welfare of plantation workers and farmers. On the floor of the Assembly, he drew attention to the issues relating to human-animal conflict. “For him, increasing wild animal attacks and deaths in the Peerumade constituency was a major issue, and he raised serious criticism against the Forest department and the Forest Minister. The Minister’s party, the NCP, eventually complained against him within the LDF,” a source said. 

“As a plantation leader, he always worked for the welfare of the labourers,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a condolence message.

Water Resource Minister Roshy Augustine said Mr. Soman had made some suggestions for building basic amenities in the Peerumade constituency in a recent meeting. CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam recalled Mr. Soman as a model communist, who spent his life fighting for the rights and welfare of plantation workers. “His focus was on resolving the unique problems faced by the people of Idukki district,” Mr. Viswam said.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said Mr. Soman’s interventions as an organiser and a legislator were sincere and popular. “He was keen to present in the Assembly, the problems of ordinary people and labourers with a view to finding workable solutions,” Mr. Govindan said.