Sudhakar Reddy replaces Bardhan as CPI gen secretary

 After a gap of nearly two decades Andhra Pradesh has once more figured in the CPI road map with the appointment of Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy as successor of A B Bardhan.

After legendry leader Chandra Rajeswar Rao, who held the CPI post for a record 28 years , it is now the turn of another Telugu man to head the bandwagon of communism. His elevation as General Secretary of the CPI at the 22nd session of the party underway at Patna is perhaps a birthday gift to Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy who celebrated his 70st birthday last Saturday.

Yet another Osmania University product, Sudhakar Reddy, had been elevated to the post of Deputy General Secretary during the 20th party convention at Hyderabad in 2008.

Sudhakar Reddy was twice former secretary of the Andhra Pradesh state committee and has been a long standing member of the Central Committee of the CPI. He also stands out in the CPI as he was elected as an MP from Nalgonda twice with TDP support and served one term as secretary as well as two terms as president of AISF.

Recently speaking to reporters, Sudhakar Reddy said he would strive not only for the merger of both Left parties but also to promote a Left and Democratic front as a viable and feasible alternative to national front of the Congress and BJP.

Born on 25 March 1942, Reddy has been an ardent social worker right from his student days. His father S Venkatrami Reddy was a freedom fighter and an ardent fighter in the Telangana armed struggle.

Reddy is a voracious reader. He was also a columnist, editor of many publications, chairman of Visalaandhra Vignyana Samithi which runs a daily newspaper and operates the largest Telugu publishing house.