Chennai
Veteran CPI leader D Pandian on Friday died at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on Friday. He was 88.
Pandian, who was a national council member of the CPI, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday in an unconscious state with sepsis and hypoglycemia. He had chronic kidney disease and is on regular hemodialysis. He breathed his last at 10.05 am on Friday.
Pandian who hailed from Usilampatti in Madurai, was a lecturer in English in Alagappa College in Karaikudi before becoming a full-time member of the Communist Party of India.
CPI general secretary D Raja said that the demise of Pandian was not only a loss to his party but to Tamil Nadu.
Condoling Pandian's demise, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said the veteran leader was the first general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Kalai Ilakkiya Perumandram launched by late legendary Communist leader P. Jeevanandam. He was known for his fiery and sharp oratory both in Tamil and English.
Before his health took a hit, Pandian addressed his party's state political conference in Madurai on February 18.
Pandian left the CPI following differences to join the United Communist Party of India (UCPI) led by Mohit Sen in 1989 and was elected to Lok Sabha from North Chennai twice contesting on Congress symbol. He, however, rejoined CPI in 2000 and functioned as the state secretary of the party for three terms. He is the editor of Jana Sakthi, a Tamil daily run by CPI.
Read More: BJP trying to destroy AIADMK: D Pandian
Pandian survived a suicide bomb attack that killed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991. He accompanied Rajiv Gandhi to translate his speech. Though opposed to LTTE's militancy during the Sri Lankan civil war, he was a vocal critic of the Sri Lankan government's approach to the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils and called upon India to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to find a peaceful political solution to the problem.
Pandian is survived by two daughters and a son, David Jawahar who is a former Registrar of the University of Madras. His wife Joyce Pandian died few years ago.
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