Hyderabad: Veteran Communist leader and former General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy passed away on Friday night, August 22, at the age of 83.
He had been undergoing treatment at Care Hospital in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, after developing complications in breathing. Despite medical attention, he succumbed to age-related ailments late in the night. He is survived by his wife, Dr. BV Vijayalakshmi, and two sons, Nikhil and Kapil.
Born in 1942
Born on March 25, 1942, in Kondravupalli village of Kodair mandal in Jogulamba Gadwal district, Sudhakar Reddy’s political journey began during his student days. At the age of 15, he took part in a protest demanding better facilities for his school, which drew him towards Communist ideology.
In 1960, he became the Kurnool town secretary of the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and later served as district secretary. In 1962, he led a 62-day strike as committee secretary at Sri Venkateswara University. A few years later, after completing his BA in Kurnool, he moved to Hyderabad and obtained an LLB from Osmania University Law College, where he also won the student union elections and became general secretary.
His steady rise continued through leadership positions in leftist student and youth wings. In 1970, he was elected national president of AISF, followed by the presidency of the All India Youth Federation in 1972.
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Reddy went on to serve as a member of the CPI Andhra Pradesh state executive committee between 1974 and 1984. Although he contested against then chief minister Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy in the Done constituency, Kurnool, in 1994, he did not succeed.
Elected to Lok Sabha from Nalgonda in 1988
In 1988, Sudhakar Reddy was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Nalgonda constituency and returned to Parliament once again from the same constituency in 2004. In 2000, he was appointed CPI state secretary for united Andhra Pradesh and a member of the national executive committee.
He played a crucial role in left-led agitations, particularly in the movement against power tariff hikes at the turn of the millennium. His contributions further elevated him within the party, and in 2012, he was elected as General Secretary of the CPI at the party congress in Patna.
He was re-elected in subsequent congresses in Puducherry in 2015 and Kollam in 2018, completing three successive terms. Though his term was to last until 2021, he resigned in 2019 due to ill health.
Key role during Telangana statehood movement
Sudhakar Reddy played an important role during the Telangana statehood movement. Initially, the CPI supported special packages to address the backwardness of the region, but under his leadership, the party recognised that a separate state was the only solution.
He was instrumental in steering the CPI towards supporting the demand for Telangana, marking a turning point in the party’s political stance.
Revanth, KCR express grief
Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy expressed profound grief over his demise and extended heartfelt condolences to his family. The chief minister recalled his remarkable journey from Mahbubnagar district to becoming a national leader and highlighted his active involvement in people’s struggles and leftist movements.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao too condoled his death, describing Sudhakar Reddy as a true son of Telangana soil who devoted his life to the welfare of the oppressed and played a significant role during the Telangana movement.
The mortal remains of Sudhakar Reddy will be kept at the CPI state office in Hyderabad on Sunday morning at 10 am for party workers and the public to pay their respects. Following the homage, his body will be donated to Gandhi Medical College for the benefit of medical education.
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