The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : D. Raja, CPI candidate for RS polls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 24, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

D. Raja, CPI candidate for RS polls

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: D. Raja, national secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), is to be the party's candidate for the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu.

The party's State executive, which met in Chennai on Wednesday, recommended Mr Raja's name to the Central Committee, according to an official release.

[Elections to six Rajya Sabha seats are slated for June 15 following the expiry of the tenure of the existing members in July.]

At the time of the Assembly elections last year, the CPI and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam arrived at an understanding that one Rajya Sabha seat would be given to the former. "We have been allotted the seat as per the understanding," D. Pandian, State secretary, told The Hindu .

In the Assembly, the CPI has six members. With the support of its allies, the party is hopeful of getting its candidate elected.

M. Kalyanasundaram was the last CPI leader to represent the State in the Rajya Sabha, according to the State unit's assistant secretary C. Mahendran. Kalyanasundaram (1909-1988) was the member of the Upper House from 1980-86.

The 57-year-old Raja, who hails from a village near Gudiyatham in Vellore district, was associated with the All India Students' Federation in his early years.

A graduate in science and education, Mr. Raja underwent one-year course in a Moscow institute of social sciences in 1973-74.

He was the State secretary of the All India Youth Federation and subsequently, he became the all-India general secretary.

For the last 15 years, he has been part of the Central Committee. He became the national secretary about 10 years ago.

Mr. Raja, who is widely travelled, has been looking after organisational and ideological matters of the party.

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