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COMRADE Kodiyeri Balakrishnan is no more with us.  After a long battle with cancer, he died in a hospital in Chennai.  In the last three years since he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he showed indomitable will in continuing to work while undergoing bouts of chemotherapy. It was only in August this year that he was relieved of the secretaryship of the Kerala state committee, when it became evident to him that his deteriorating health would not allow him to discharge his responsibilities. 

IT’S unthinkable that Comrade Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has departed from our midst. It causes deep pain.  He wasn’t just like a brother, there was real brotherhood between us. We both chose to tread the same path.

His concern for the Party was above everything else even under acute illness. He thought about how to handle the attacks against the Party till his last days. He insisted on his decision to voluntarily step down from the Party secretaryship when he felt he was unable to discharge its full time responsibilities.

COMRADE Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was much more than a colleague to me. Senior to me by two years, he was as close to me as a brother in a relationship spanning over five decades. It dates back to 1972-73 when we worked together as colleagues and office bearers of the SFI at the state level. His end has come now, as we were working together simultaneously at the state and national levels.

RAJEEV Jha, a senior colleague in the editorial team of Loklahar, died of a sudden cardiac arrest on the intervening night of August 10-11. He suffered a massive heart attack suddenly and without any pre-symptoms and did not even get a chance to reach the nearest hospital. He was over 70 years old.