CPI(M) leader passes away

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA, JUNE 18. Senior Marxist leader and member of the CPI(M) politburo, Moturu Hanumantha Rao, died here today after a prolonged illness. Hanumantha Rao had also been a former MP, an MLA and the editor of the CPI(M) daily, Prajasakthi. He was 84 and is survived by his wife, Ms. Udayam and two daughters.

He died at his house at 9.00 a.m. and his body was taken to the party office to enable the people to pay their last respects. The cremation will take place at 3.00 p.m. tomorrow. Leaders of the CPI(M) - Mr. Sitaram Yechuri, Mr. S. Ramachandran Pillai, Mr. Anil Biswas and Mr. V.S. Achutanandan are expected to attend the funeral.

The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family. In his death, the State has lost a multi-faceted personality, an intellectual and an effective organiser, the Chief Minister said.

Born in a middle-class farmer's family at Vellaturu in Guntur district in 1917, Hanumantha Rao, plunged into the freedom struggle as a student. He joined the Communist Party in 1937 and served as State secretary of the CPI(M) from 1964 to 1982. He had spent four-and-a-half years in jail and five-and-a-half years in exile at different periods before and after Independence. He was elected to the Madras Assembly from Repalle constituency in 1952 defeating Kalluri Chandramouli, then Minister. He was the editor of Visalandhrafor eight years. He was elected to the politburo at the Kolkatta conference in 1998.

Mr. B.V. Raghavulu, State secretary of the CPI(M), said that the death of Hanumantha Rao would be a loss to the Communist movement.

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