Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condoled the death of veteran communist leader and freedom fighter N. Sankaraiah, 102, who passed away at a private hospital in Chennai early Wednesday. The centenarian leader had served Tamil Nadu for three terms as a legislator.
Mr. Vijayan said Mr. Sankaraiah had surmounted personal turmoil, a harsh colonial administration and severe political headwinds to emerge as a mass leader. The leader marched in lockstep with a history during a politically tumultuous period, Mr. Vijayan said.
He said Mr. Sankaraiah abandoned higher education to fight for the cause of Indian independence and was jailed several times.
Mr. Vijayan said Mr. Sankaraiah was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) after 32 leaders walked out of the Communist Party of India (CPI) national council in 1964.
Mr. Sankaraiah was instrumental in building the CPI(M) from scratch. He mitigated extreme leftism among the cadres and guided the party in the correct direction.
Mr. Sankaraiah served as the CPI(M)’s State secretary in Tamil Nadu. He was a frontline leader of the All India Kisan Sabha and the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad.
