Prominent political leaders in Tamil Nadu today expressed grief over the death of A B Bardhan with DMK President M Karunanidhi saying he had lost a good friend in late CPI leader.
"When the Left Parties were allies of the DMK and even when they were not, Bardhan has been a good friend of mine. He was a person who always had respect for the party. I have lost a good friend of mine," Karunanidhi said in his condolence message.
"I extend my deepest condolences to his family and the several Communist party cadres," he said.
MDMK Chief Vaiko said he could not forget the remarkable speech made by the late CPI Leader when MDMK was staging a protest in New Delhi urging the Centre to stop the 'Eelam Tamil war' in Sri Lanka.
Bardhan had congratulated MDMK for being the only political party in India to stage a "strong protest" against the Indo-US Nuclear agreement, Vaiko recalled.
"I cannot forget the brief interaction I had with him on the formation of People's Welfare Front during my recent visit to New Delhi," he said in his condolence message.
The 92-year-old CPI veteran, hospitalised on December 7 after he suffered a paralytic stroke, passed away last evening at a hospital in the national capital.
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Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah, state units of CPI (M) and CPI also expressed grief over veteran leader's death.
"I am deeply shocked and grieved to hear about the demise of A B Bardhan. He made immense contribution to the working class, trade unions and to uplift the downtrodden," Rosaiah said in his condolence message.
"His death is an irreparable loss to the labour community," he added.
CPI (M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan said Bardhan strengthened ties and brought unity among the two Left parties. "His demise is not only loss to Communist party but also for Left parties as a whole," he said.
CPI's state unit general secretary R Mutharasan in his condolence message said party flags would fly half-mast for seven days while various party programmes have been cancelled as a mark of respect to the late leader.
