People's Democracy

Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav

VETERAN leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav died in Lucknow at 8.00 p m on May 31 at the Sanjay Gandhi Medical Science Institute after battling with cancer for over a year. He was 77. Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav was a member of the central committee and secretary of the Uttar Pradesh state committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Apart from state leaders of the party, on behalf of the Party centre, Prakash Karat, member of the Polit Bureau rushed to Lucknow and paid his respects to the departed leader. Among those who paid homage included Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The cremation took place at Bhainsakund in Lucknow on the evening of June 1. Earlier Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav’s body was kept at the Party state committee office in Lucknow from 10.30 to 3.00 p m on June 1 to enable Party workers and well wishers to

pay their homage.

The UP state committee in its condolence resolution on June 1 expressed deep shock at the demise of Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav. It stated that he belonged to that generation of Party leaders who gave up studies to join the anti-imperialist struggle in the country. His father, Ram Yash Yadav, was also a freedom fighter. Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav joined the Communist Party in 1947 and began to organise the peasantry. After the formation of the CPI(M) he joined it and was a member of its state committee and state secretariat for years. He was also the state secretary of the AIKS. He was elected the Party’s state secretary in 1988 and to the central committee at the Trivandrum party congress the same year. He continued in these capacities till the end of his life, working for the growth and expansion of the Party untiringly.

Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav spent four and half years in jail and three years underground. An effective orator, he was a member of the UP legislative council from 1997 to 2003. He has left behind a son, a daughter and six grandchildren. His wife had died five years ago.

Terming his demise as the irreparable loss of an experienced communist leader, the state committee has paid him revolutionary homage and sent condolences to his bereaved family members.

In its condolence message, the Bihar state committee of the CPI(M) paid tributes to Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav saying he was a dedicated and committed Marxist who contributed a lot to the fight against the communal forces in the Hindi heartland. It offered condolences to the family members of Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav. The Haryana state committee also in its meeting on January 1 adopted a resolution condoling the death of Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav.

The All India Kisan Sabha and All India Agricultural Workers Union dipped their flags in mourning on the demise of Comrade Ram Sumer Yadav. In a joint statement they termed him a committed and dedicated state secretary of Uttar Pradesh Kisan Sabha and a member of the Central Kisan Council of AIKS. Hailing from a family of freedom fighters of Sultanpur, he was a man of rare dedication and determination. With has passing away UP has lost an important patriot and revolutionary, they stated.