VETERAN CPI(M) and trade union leader Comrade B Madhava passed away at his residence in Mangalore recently. He was 81. He was ailing for last few years.  He is survived by his wife and three sons. He was associated with the CPI(M) for over four decades.

A post-graduate in Arts and also a law graduate, Madhava hailed from Balkuru in neighbouring Kasargod district of Kerala. He was a former employee in the LIC and had fought for the rights of insurance workers.  He resigned from the LIC to become a full timer of the Party, two decades ago. He had worked in the CPI(M) both in its state and Dakshina Kannada district units in various capacities.  He was secretary of CPI(M) Dakhshina Kannada district committee and state secretariat member for a long time.  He contested from Ullal assembly and Mangalore Lok Sabha as CPI(M) candidate.

As a trade union leader, he fought for the rights of beedi, tiles, transport and construction workers. He was president of Karnataka unit of CITU from 2002 to 2010. He also served as president of All India Beedi Workers Federation. He was national working committee member of CITU. 

Madhava was a prolific reader and writer. He translated works of EMS Namboodiripad, AK Gopalan, Lenin from English and Malayalam to Kannada.

He was a member of the delegation of the CITU which visited the then USSR in 1988 on a study tour. He visited Japan in 2011 as a member of the construction workers union also on a study tour.