Puchalapalli Sundarayya, one among the founding members of Communist Party of India (Marxist), was a people’s man and he lived for the working class and peasants, said P. Madhu, senior leader of the party.
He was addressing the party workers on the occasion of Sundarayya’s 19 death anniversary here at Andhra University Assembly Hall on Sunday.
Narrating an incident from Sundarayya’s life, he said that the feeling for the poor and the downtrodden was steeped into the founding member’s mind since his formative days. “When he was in his eighth class, he defied his father and the village elders to supply water from the village well to the backward castes, who were banned from drawing water,” he said.
Recollecting Sundarayya’s contribution to the depressed classes, Mr. Madhu said that he was one among the few who stood against the feudal lords of Telangana region, including the Nizam. “He would not have been able to tolerate the bifurcation of the State, as he had openly advocated for Visalandhra (unified AP)”.
The party’s State secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao, in his address said Sundarayya was a trendsetter in the Communist movement in the country. “He took to active politics at a very young age. At the age of 17 years he vigorously took part in the Simon Commission movement in the pre-Independence era. On one hand he led an energetic nationalist movement and on the other he worked for the development of the communist movement,” pointed out Mr. Narasinga Rao.
Recalling Sundarayya’s role, post independence, Mr. Narasinga Rao said he played a stellar role in building up the party cadre across the nation. “His idea was to build a very strong second rung leadership network, as he believed that it was these men and women who would take the movement forward,” said Mr. Narasinga Rao.
Other senior leaders and secretariat members were present at the meet.
