Strap: Reddy firm on stepping down
Hyderabad, June 4
The CPI would see a change of guard next month with its general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy deciding to step down on health grounds after holding the post for more than seven years, sources said.
Reddy, who assumed charge of the party’s top post on March 31, 2012, and was serving a third term scheduled to end in 2021, is firm on announcing his “retirement” at the national council meeting to be held in Delhi on July 20, they said.
The 77-year-old veteran Communist leader “cannot travel much, has lung problems, allergy to air-conditioning and discomfort facing extreme heat and cold”, they said.
Party national secretary D Raja, All India Trade Union Congress general secretary Amarjeet Kaur and Kerala secretary Kanam Rajendran are seen to be frontrunners to succeed Reddy, a former Lok Sabha member from Telangana.
The CPI is the second biggest constituent in the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala.
Whoever takes over would have a tough challenge to revive the fortunes of the party, which put up a dismal show in the recent Lok Sabha elections, winning only two seats.
Meanwhile, Reddy had a discussion with his CPM counterpart Sitaram Yechury on the issue of reunification of the Communist parties. PTI
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2MtovY4
via Today’s News Headlines
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