OBITUARY :
CPI (ML) senior leader Ramesh Chandra Pandey (affectionately known as Baba) passed away on 11 April 2017 at the age of 77. He was born in Lohar Farna village, Badhara block, Bhojpur district on 12 February 1940. He was a post-graduate with a keen interest in politics and literature, and composed poetry.
Com Ramesh Chandra joined the communist movement in his student days. His brother Com. Videsh Chandra was a distinguished lawyer and CPI (M) leader from whom Ramesh got his political training, and soon he started working for the urban poor in Ara as a committed communist activist. In 1967 a spark from the Naxalbari farmers’ revolt reached Bhojpur and Com.Ramesh Chandra could not remain untouched by it. His elder brother and other CPI (M) leaders were deeply affected by the Naxalbari movement and they initiated a serious discussion within the Party. Com. Ramesh Chandra was also deeply influenced by the ‘Harijanistan’ movement led by Master Jagdish in Bhojpur, and he was gradually attracted to the CPI (ML).
When Bihar State Kisan Sabha was established in 1981 following the special National Conference of the Party, Com Ramesh Chandra along with several other CPI (M) comrades joined the CPI (ML) and started working with the Kisan Sabha. Soon he became well-known as a State level Kisan Sabha leader and became the State President. In 1985 he contested from the Badhara Assembly seat under the banner of the IPF and secured a respectable number of votes. He went to jail several times in his political life. Till 2000 he discharged the duties of the Office Secretary of the Kisan Sabha. After that he came to the Party State office and shouldered important responsibilities till the day of his death.
Com Ramesh Chandra had been suffering from kidney ailment since 2003 but he never let his illness come in the way of his political work. He had been very ill for the past one year and on dialysis for the past one month. He was well loved and respected by comrades of all ages, from senior leaders to student activists. His death is an irreparable loss to the Party, especially to the State office. He will always remain an infinite source of inspiration to all of us.
Long live Com Ramesh Chandra!
