ON June 7, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat released the book Founders of the CPI(M) by handing over a copy to fellow Polit Bureau member K Varadharajan. The release function took place during the second half of the Central Committee meeting in New Delhi on the day. S Ramachandran Pillai was present on the dais. The book has been authored by N Ramakrishnan who had worked at the CPI(M) parliamentary office for a period for about 15 years from 1969 to 1983. In the initial years when the party had its headquarters at Kolkata, many Polit Bureau and Central Committee meetings were held at the parliamentary party office at 4, Ashoka Road in New Delhi. This provided Ramakrishnan an opportunity to interact with the founding leaders of the party. In the introduction to the book, Prakash Karat said: "Comrade N Ramakrishnan has produced a concise history of the contribution of these nine leaders who are termed as navratnas of the CPI(M). By bringing together the collective history of the contribution of these nine leaders, Comrade N Ramakrishnan has done a valuable service." He further wrote: “A new generation of readers can now get a vivid glimpse of the communist leadership’s role in the national movement and the anti-imperialist movement; the struggle against feudalism and the bourgeois-landlord rule; and the quest for socialism.” Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, in his preface, said that "This brief but memorable account of the lives of our leaders will continue to be a source of inspiration for generations of communists in India and abroad." He added: “These are not merely inspiring and interesting brief accounts of the eventful life and times of pioneering communists of India but are important as historical and biographical sketches.” In his greetings, K Varadharjan said he would like the book to be translated and published in all Indian languages as it “gives a truthful and most vivid exposition of the events of their life time” of the CPI(M) navratnas. Published by the Indian University Press, the book is priced at Rs 500. Ramakrishnan has separately published concise biographies of late Comrades Muzaffar Ahmed, B T Ranadive, P Ramamurti, E M S Namboodiripad, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Jyoti Basu, Samar Mukerhee and M K Pandhe, among others.