THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its profound grief at the death of veteran communist and former member of its Central Committee, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi. He was aged 96 and died at a Patna hospital on January 11, 2021, where he was admitted a few days back.

Ganeshda as he was fondly called, joined the struggle for India’s freedom as a student aged 17. In the nearly eight decades of an eventful public life since then, he rose from the ranks of an ordinary member of the undivided Communist Party, which he joined in 1942, to become the state secretary of the CPI(M) and a member of its Central Committee for several years, later on.

Despite coming from a class of landowners, Comrade Vidyarthi fought for the rights of the landless and the marginal peasants. In the course of these struggles, he was jailed for six years both during the struggle for independence and later on in independent India.

He was elected as an MLA on two occasions and was also an MLC for one term. He had an affable personality and was held in high esteem across the political spectrum in Bihar.

He led a very simple life and his requirements were spartan.

His departure at this time is a big loss to the Left movement in Bihar.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) conveys its heartfelt condolences to his children. It joins the Bihar state committee of the Party and its entire membership in mourning his loss.