J. Hemachandran was an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n politician and trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

ist. He was a leading personality of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

 in the state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly

Vidhan Sabha

The Vidhan Sabha or the Legislative Assembly is the lower house or the sole house of the provincial legislature in the different states of India. The same name is also used for the lower house of the legislatures for two of the union territories, Delhi and Pondicherry...

 of Tamil Nadu from the Thiruvattar constituency

Thiruvattar (State Assembly Constituency)

Thiruvattar is an assembly constituency located in Nagercoil Lok Sabha Constituency in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu.- Travancore-cochin assembly :- Madras State assembly:- Tamil Nadu assembly :...

 four times, in 1980, 1984, 1989 and 2001. He served as the leader of the CPI(M) group in the Assembly.

During his college studies in Thiruvanathapuram, J. Hemachandran had become active in student politics. In 1952 he was admitted as a member of the Communist Party of India

Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

. He returned to Tamil Nadu and became a full-time activist of the party in Nagercoil

Nagercoil

Nagercoil is the 12th largest city in the southernmost Indian state of Tamil Nadu and a municipality and administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District...

 in 1962. He began to work with plantation workers. When the CPI was divided in 1964, J. Hemachandran sided with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). In the same year he was arrested under DIR and was imprisoned during fourteen months.

When the Centre of Indian Trade Unions

Centre of Indian Trade Unions

Centre of Indian Trade Unions , CITU is a National level Trade Union in India politically attached to the Communist Party of India . The Centre of Indian Trade Unions is today one of biggest assembly of workers and classes of India...

 was formed, he became a leading figure of the organisation in the state. He led struggles of coir, textile, plantation workers, amongst other. He was district secretary and later state secretary of the CITU Transport Workers' Federation. He would also became Vice President of the All India Plantation Workers Federation.

In 1978 he was elected to the CPI(M) Tamil Nadu State Committee, and in 2005 he was included in the Tamil Nadu state secretariat of the party. During the 1990s he was elected President of the Tamil Nadu State Committee of CITU. He was also a member of the National Rubber Board

Rubber Board

The Rubber Board is a statutory body constituted by the Government of India, under the Rubber Act 1947, for the overall development of the rubber industry in the country.- Rubber Research Institute of India :...

.

Amongst other things, J. Hemachandran campaigned for a ban on Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

 and Pepsi

Pepsi

Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...

 sales in Tamil Nadu and coordinated relief work in the state after the 2004 tsunami.

J. Hemachandran died after surgery (a tumour in the spinal cord had been removed) at a Thiruvanathapuram hospital on February 8, 2008.