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A. Balasubramaniam (21 October 1917 - 5 September 1981) was an Indian communist politician from Tamil Nadu. He was a Polit Bureau member of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and served as Member of Legislative Assembly representing Dindigul Assembly constituency.

Early life, education and beginning of politics

Balasubramaniam was born on October 21, 1917, and pursued his education at Annamalai University, followed by Law College. Initially, he practiced law in Dindigul, but his true passion lay in the Left Movement, which he became drawn to during his student days. As he delved deeper into the movement, Balasubramaniam started participating in student activities and eventually co-founded the Dindigul Tannery Workers Union.

Political career

In 1943, he became a member of the Communist Party of India. Three years later, he was arrested for participating in the railway strike. The following year, he was arrested again, this time for his involvement in the TVS workers' strike in Madurai. He was held at the Vellore Central Jail under the Public Safety Bill, 1928, and was released on August 13, 1947, just two days before India gained independence.

He was imprisoned again in 1948 for some months. He was released by the High Court in 1949 on a habeas corpus petition and remained underground till the end of 1951. He was again arrested in 1962 and was in jail for nine months. In 1965-66 he was in jail for one and a half years.

In 1956, Balasubramaniam was elected secretary of the Madurai District Committee of the party and also became a member of the state secretariat of the Party.

He joined Communist Party of India (Marxist) during 1964 split in the CPI and he was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) at the Seventh Party congress held at Kolkata in 1964 and was re-elected to the Central Committee at Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Party Congresses.

In 1972, he became the secretary of the CPIM Tamil Nadu State Committee and remained so till the death.

During the emergency period, he had a warrant of arrest against him and had to work underground.

He was elected to the Polit Bureau at the Jalandhar Congress of 1978 and remained a member of the PB till his death. He was an prominent leader of the trade union movement and was member of the Working Committee of the CITU at the time of death.

Election to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly|Madras Legislative Assembly

He was a member of the Tamil Nadu assembly for one term from 1967 to 1971 representing Dindigul Assembly constituency. He defeated his nearest candidate O.C. Pillai of Indian National Congress by a margin of 12,844 votes.

Death

He passed away on September 5, 1981.

References

1. "Com. A Balasubramaniam was one of the towering communist leader hailing from the state of Tamilnadu". Facebook.
2. "Members of PB – 7th to 19th Congress". Communist Party of India (Marxist).
3. "Tamil Nadu, 1967".
4. Election Commission of India. "Statistical Report on General Election 1967" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
5. "Red Salute to Com a Nallasivan as We Enter the Centenary Year of his Birth | Peoples Democracy". This rich experience of his proved very valuable for the Party when, in 1981, following the death of Com A Balasubramanian, the then secretary of the Tamil Nadu state committee of the CPI(M), Com AN became the secretary of the Tamil Nadu state committee.

• Indian politicians
• 1917 births
• 1981 deaths
• Tamil Nadu MLAs 1967–1971