Senior CPI(M) leader and Central Committee Member K Varadarajan died at Karur in Tamil Nadu on Saturday. The 73-year-old leader had been suffering from age-related ailments and breathed his last on Saturday afternoon.

CPI (M) state unit Secretary K Balakrishnan in a statement recalled his contributions to the party. Balakrishnan traced Varadarajan's rise in the ranks, including as the head of the state unit's farmers' wing earlier and described him as a simple and affable person.

Hailing from Sriramgam, Varadarajan was a civil engineer by profession. Varadharajan became a CPI (M) member in 1968 and four years later, in 1972, he was elected to the Tamil Nadu State Committee of the CPI(M). Another two years later, in 1974, he was elected as the Secretary of Trichy District Kisan Sabha. He was elected General Secretary All India Kisan Sabha in 1998 and in 2005 he was elected to the Polit Bureau.

He was the Vice President of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and member of the Central Committee of the CPI(M) till the end.

As a mark of respect to the departed leader, all events have been cancelled for three days, even as the party flag will fly half-mast across the state for three days, Balakrishnan said. His last rites would be held in Srirangam according to reports.

Varadarajan is survived by a son and a daughter. His wife had predeceased him by six years.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of Vardarajan. “The passing away of Vardarajan, a former Politburo member of the CPI(M), is a big loss to Leftorganisations farmers' movements," he said in a statement in Thiruvananthapuram.

Vardarajan, who was general secretary of the Kisan Sabha for a long time, had led farmers agitations in Tiruchirapalli district in Tamil Nadu and came to the forefront in the Marxist party.

(With inputs from PTI)