N Sankaraiah.
Credit: X/@SitaramYechury
Veteran Communist leader N Sankaraiah, who entered India’s freedom struggle during his student days and dedicated his life to the service of the people of Tamil Nadu in various capacities, died here on Wednesday. He was 102.
Sankaraiah, who was admitted to a private hospital after he complained of cough and fever a few days ago, breathed his last at around 10 am. He is survived by his two sons and his body will be kept for public viewing at his residence in Chromepet and later at the state CPI-M headquarters here.
Chief Minister M K Stalin, who rushed to the private hospital and paid respects to Sankaraiah, announced that the last rites of the Communist veteran will be held with “state honours.”
Born on July 15, 1921, in Kovilpatti in the then Tirunelveli district, Sankaraiah did his graduation from the American College in Madurai in history and joined the Communist movement. At the age of 20, he was jailed for the first time in 1941 by the British regime which raided his hostel room and found pamphlets in support of the Independence movement.
Sankaraiah was arrested just 15 days before his BA final exams in 1941 and was released only hours before India gained independence on August 15, 1947.
One of the 32 council members who walked out of the Communist Party of India, Sankaraiah was a founding member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was a member of the Central Committee of CPI(M) for a long time and was associated with the All-India Kisan Sabha.
Sankaraiah was also elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1967 from Madurai (west) and twice in 1977 and 1980 from Madurai (east) constituencies.
A powerful orator, Sankaraiah served as the state secretary of CPI (M) in Tamil Nadu from 1995 to 2002, and he retired from active politics in the 2000s due to his age. In 2021, Sankaraiah became the first recipient of the Thagaisaal Tamizhar (Eminent Tamil) instituted by the DMK government after it came to power.
Sankaraiah was recently in news after Governor R N Ravi “refused” to sign the file with regard to the decision of the Syndicate and Senate of the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) to confer an honorary doctorate on him.
The governor stood by his decision and the doctorate could not be conferred on Sankaraiah at the MKU convocation ceremony held on November 2.
Stalin referred to the controversy in his condolence message saying he was “saddened” at the fact that Sankaraiah couldn’t be conferred a doctorate as planned due to the “conspiracy” of a “few narrow-minded people” who are not well-versed with Tamil Nadu’s contributions to the freedom movement, taking a dig at the governor.