By Nitya Chakraborty
Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, the legendary communist leader of the undivided Andhra Pradesh and the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) for seven years from 2012 to 2019 passed away on Friday August 22. He was 83. Sudhakar was a distinguished leader of the Indian Left for six decades beginning his illustrious political career in the student movement and then follow it up with his leadership in the struggle of the people among youth, workers, peasants and also on the floor of Lok Sabha.
From his formative years as a school student in Kurnool, where he led his classmates in a strike for blackboards and chalk, to his days as Students’ Union General Secretary at Osmania University Law College, Sudhakar Reddy’s instinct for mobilisation and leadership was evident early. Twice elected as General Secretary of the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) in the late 1960s, he led historic 62-day nationwide strikes demanding hostels, scholarships and welfare measures, and faced repeated imprisonment for his role in student struggles. As President of the All India Youth Federation (AIYF) in 1972, he spearheaded the campaign that won voting rights for youth at the age of 18, through the 61st Constitutional Amendment—leaving an indelible mark on India’s democratic process.
Twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Nalgonda (1998 & 2004), he served with distinction as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. His pioneering recommendations on social security for unorganised workers and gratuity rights for private school teachers became the basis of important legislations. His interventions in Parliament—on fluoride contamination in Nalgonda, agrarian distress, black money, and the 2G scam—won him respect across party lines as a voice of integrity and social conscience.
On the ground, he led major people’s agitations, including the militant electricity price struggle in Andhra Pradesh, where he narrowly escaped police bullets. This agitation became a landmark in resisting World Bank-imposed policies. As CPI Andhra Pradesh State Secretary (1997–2005) and later as Deputy General Secretary (2008), he expanded the reach of the Left among youth, particularly in universities, by linking class and caste struggles in new ways.
As General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (2012–2019), Reddy re-energised the organisation, emphasising cadre education, mass-organisation building, and united-Left action against communalism and authoritarianism. Under his stewardship, the Party recorded its most significant growth in membership and in youth and women’s wings since the 1990s.
Internationally, Sudhakar Reddy represented the CPI and India with distinction. He participated in more than 40 international delegations, from student congresses in the USSR and Mongolia to fraternal engagements in the USA, Italy, Vietnam, Japan and elsewhere. He also addressed the United Nations General Assembly, projecting the vision of India’s working people to the world. These global exchanges deepened CPI’s international solidarity and sharpened its perspectives at home.
A commanding orator in Telugu, Hindi and English, as well as a prolific writer of essays, pamphlets and books, eddy combined ideological clarity with accessibility, making Marxism understandable to new generations. His speeches and writings continue to inspire organisers and campaigners across India.
CPI national secretariat in a statement said, ”Comrade Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy exemplified the journey “from the classroom to the comradeship of the world.” His entire life was a testament to principled leadership rooted in people’s struggles, and he will be remembered as one of the outstanding leaders of the Indian Left. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the former BRS Chief Minister condole the death of Sudhakar Reddy. Andhra CM said Sudhakar Reddy the life of a consistent fighter for the rights of the downtrodden.
This writer remembers Sudhakar Reddy as a communist leader with an open mind and the flexibility to respect other views. Sudhakar was soft spoken but he did tremendous job as a member of Lok Sabha. He was a voracious reader. As CPI general secretary, he addressed lot of meetings in the Hindi Speaking states in Hindi. He was a good writer contributing on ideological issues on a regular basis. He took up CPI general secretary’s position after A B Bardhan retired in 2012 party congress. He had to leave the CPI general secretary position in 2019 because of health reasons. Not only CPI members and supporters, but also others outside the Left among the political parties mourned his death. (IPA Service)
