Date:18/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/18/stories/2008101859340800.htm
Back



Andhra Pradesh

M. Omkar passes away

-Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Last respects: Mallu Swarajum paying floral tribute to veteran Communist leader M. Omkar in Hyderabad on Friday.

HYDERABAD: Veteran Communist leader and Polit Bureau Member of Marxist Communist Party of India Maddikayala Omkar (84) passed away here on Friday after a prolonged illness.

He was admitted to the NIMS last month with serious respiratory problems. He is survived by wife Laxmamma, four sons and two daughters. His body will be taken on Saturday morning to Narsampet where the final rites will be performed.

Omkar was a fiery legislator who represented Narsampet Assembly constituency five times on behalf of the CPI(M) . His performance in the House reflected the revolutionary politics that he pursued while fighting the Nizam’s rule and later against the emergency for which he served long jail terms. The firebrand leader waged a determined war against the naxalites and had to pay a heavy price for criticising their politics of killing. They made as many as five abortive attempts on his life between 1978 and 1989.His outspokenness on various issues led to his expulsion from the CPI(M) in 1983 following which he floated the MCPI and was elected to the Assembly.

Governor N. D. Tiwari and Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy led the people in paying tributes to the Communist leader. Several other leaders like B. V.Raghavulu, Mallu Swarajyam, Puvvada Nageswara Rao, Minister for Major Irrigation Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Nagam Janardhan Reddy, T. Devender Goud and Mandadi Satyanarayana Reddy paid floral tributes.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu