Old memories

This week, the Communist Party of India hosted a seminar in the memory of former party chief A B Bardhan, who passed away last year. CPI (M) chief Sitaram Yechury spoke of the time when the CPI split into two parties in 1964. He reminisced how when the CPI (M) headquarters at AK Gopalan Bhavan in New Delhi was still under construction, Bardhan had come visiting. Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who was then the CPI (M) chief, asked Yechury to show Bardhan the building. When the two reached the third floor of the building, which was largely vacant, Bardhan asked who might occupy it. Yechury quipped it has been planned for a time when the two parties reunite and the CPI moves in to the AKG Bhavan.