Date:11/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/11/stories/2008011163711000.htm

Tamil Nadu

Varadarajan elected

MADURAI: N. Varadarajan was unanimously elected Secretary of the State unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the third time at the 19th State conference that concluded here on Thursday.

The 81-year-old leader, who started his life as a spinning mill worker at Dindigul, joined the Communist Party in 1943, a party statement said. He later joined the CPI (M), and became its Madurai district secretary. He participated in several protests and was imprisoned for nearly three years.

Mr. Varadarajan was an MLA three times in 1967, 1977 and 1980. He was elected State secretary in 1978 and 1996. — Staff Reporter