Veteran CPI(M) leader dies

Veteran CPI-M leader P Ramachandran died at a hospital here on Tuesday morning after a prolonged illness.

Veteran CPI-M leader P Ramachandran died at a hospital here on Tuesday morning after a prolonged illness. He was 83.

A party ideologue, ‘PRC’ taught the young cadres what Marxism meant and was a central committee member till he breathed his last.

A large number of comrades and leaders, including those from his home state, Kerala, were present at the last rites.

Story continues below this ad

Son of well-known advocate Sankara Menon, Ramachandran came to Chennai, the then capital of the Madras Presidency, from the Malabar region for higher education in 1942 at the age of 17. He soon became a member of All India Students’ Federation and joined the Madras Students’ Organisation, one of the biggest student outfits in Madras in those times, and went on to become its secretary.

He studied for only a year, as he became a full-time party member. He also took part in the freedom struggle and was jailed for nearly five years.

He chose to go with the CPM after the split in Communist Party and became the district secretary for Tiruchy, a post he had held even when the party was undivided.