DELIVERING the P Sundarayya Memorial Lecture on “Cultural Heritage of Left – Contemporary Context”, organised by the M B Vignana kendram on the occasion of the 34th death anniversary of Puchalapalli Sundarayya, founding member of the Communist Party in South India and leader of the Telangana Peoples’Armed Struggle, Prof. Vakulabharanam Ramakrishna said that the Left parties are needed to guide the country on the right path. Addressing the meeting held in Vijayawada on May 19, he said the country is passing through a degenerating phase and only a party with socialist ideology can put it back on the rails.  The meeting was presided over by the Managing Trustee of MBVK and the CPI(M) state secretary P Madhu.

Ramakrishna called for a new, strong cultural policy to bring all the streams of working class on a common platform. “This is imperative for a social change,” he insisted, adding that he was impressed by the ballet presented by the Praja Natya Mandali artists on the life of Sundarayya which, he said, had rekindled his hope. He said a pro-migrant population policy was the need of the hour.

Speaking about how he was attracted to the Communist ideology when he was in tenth class, Prof. Ramakrishna spoke at length about the work and working style of PS, as Sundarayya was fondly called. “The ‘leader of the masses’ never ironed his clothes, never smoked a cigarette and always opted for a beedi and relied on the ordinary mode of transport,” he recounted, reminding that the all-India general secretary of the Communist Party went to the parliament on a cycle. “This was because he worked ‘for’ and ‘with’ the working classes who could relate to his lifestyle,” he explained.

In Andhra Pradesh, he said, the Left parties contributed a great deal in reviving the works of legends like Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Gurajada Apparao, Gidugu Ramamurthy and Chilakamarthi Lakshminarasimham.  He also referred to Communist bodies like Abhyudaya Rachaitala Sangham, the Prajasakthi Publishing House and the cultural arm Praja Natya Mandali, that served as effective tools to promote the Communist ideology among people in a big way. Prajasakti published about 300 titles between 1938 and 1948 against all odds. He said in the current scenario, it was imperative for the Communist parties in the country to rise to the occasion and focus on formulating policies that could bring back the lost sheen.

Rich tributes were paid to PS at the beginning by garlanding his photo and the hall resounded with the slogans of the audience. Pinnamaneni Muralikrishna invited the speakers and B R Tulasirao proposed vote of thanks. CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna, Janasahiti editor K Ravi Babu, Shyam Prasad of Janasena and many other dignitaries of the city attended the meeting.