Senior CPI(M) leader and former Central Committee member comrade N. Varadarajan died here on Tuesday at a private hospital after a prolonged illness. Varadarajan, 87, is survived by his wife V Jagadambal and two sons V Kalayanasundaram and V Bharathi.
Comrade Varadarajan who was not keeping well for the past two to three years, had attended the party’s 20th Congress in Kozhikode which concluded on Monday. This morning he complained of uneasiness while he was in the party state committee office in Chennai and was admitted to a private hospital here, where he breathed his last, party sources said.
CPI(M) State Secretary G. Ramakrishnan expressed grief over Mr. Varadarajan’s demise and said it was an “irreparable loss.”
His body was kept at the party’s T. Nagar office for people to pay their respects. It was taken to his hometown Dindigul where the last rites would be performed on Wednesday, the party said in a release. The body will be kept in the party Dindigul district committee office in the morning.
He was born in 1924 in the village of Kambilipattti in Vedanchandhur taluk in Dindugal District. He was the second son of Alamelu and Narayanaswamy. After droping out at 8th standard he joined the Sounderraja Mill as a worker. He was expelled from the job for joining the trade union movement. He became a communist party member in 1943. In 1948 and during the Emergency period he lead underground life for more than 2 years. He was also jailed for a term of 3 years for leading various protests under the banner of communist party. He worked as the secretary of CPIM Dindugal Taluk committee for 19 years. Later he became the district secretary of unified Madurai District Committee. In 1995 he was selected to the party Central Committee. He was elected as the State secretary at the state conference held at Coimbatore in 2002.In the later conferences in 2005 and 2008 he was re elected as the state secretary. He stepdown from the post of state secretary in 2010 February due to health reasons. After that also he was active in the political arena and he played a crucial role in the demolition of Caste wall at uthapuram in Madurai. He was elected to assembly for three times. 1967 from Vedamchandhur constituency and 1970, 1980 from Dindigal Constituency.
CPIM party flag would be flown at half-mast for the next three days as a mark of respect to the departed leader. Peoples from various spectrum came to the Party State committe office, Com P Ramamoorthi Illam to pay tributes to the departed leader. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and leaders of several other political parties have condoled the death of the Marxist veteran.
Red Salute to the departed Leader of the masses : Team Thunderbolt
