Former Kerala chief minister and veteran CPM leader V S Achuthanandan passed away at the age of 101, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said on Monday.Achuthanandan had been receiving treatment at a private hospital since last month following a cardiac arrest, had been in critical condition. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, finance minister K N Balagopal, and CPM state secretary, among other senior leaders, visited the hospital earlier in the day to check on his condition.A towering figure in Kerala’s political landscape, Achuthanandan was a founding member of the CPM and served as the state’s Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.