MADURAI: The saying that age is just a number was proven right by Challa Venkataiah (72) and C Kuppusamy (58), who travelled by cycle for 510 km from Tirupati in Telangana to the CPM's 24th party congress at Tamukkam ground in Madurai on Saturday evening. The delegates of CPM received the duo with a grand welcome.
Venkataiah and Kuppusamy started their journey on the morning of March 29. They crossed Chithoor, Vellore, Thiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore, Perambalur, Sivaganga, Pudukottai, Tiruchy and reached Madurai on Saturday evening.
Venkataiah has been a party member since 1977 as a full-time worker and has served as a CPM district secretary. For the past two years, he has been practicing as an advocate in the Tirupati district court.
"I have always considered myself as a young man. I was a champion in cycle races during my school and college days. I was attracted by the ideologies of the communist party in the 1970s, and slowly engaged myself in party activities. In view of the 24th congress, I wanted to do something remarkable. Hence, Kuppusamy and I planned to travel by cycle till Madurai and achieved it," he said.
He further said that the vote bank of CPM is declining and said, “People's trust on CPM remains strong, but people believe that if they vote for us we would not come to power. But the reality is that we will concentrate on people's welfare when we are in power. However, cadres of CPM are everywhere and keep raising voices for the working class and the general public," he added.
Kuppusamy, who is a former Praja Shakti employee, said that they travelled an average of 70 km daily. He said that not only party cadres, but the public in every district welcomed them. They trust the party's movement and gave petitions on their grievances.
"The main aim of this journey from Telangana to Madurai is not only to spread awareness about the CPM's party congress, but also to raise awareness on the environment. The youth needs to preserve nature for the future generation by adopting environment-friendly ways like riding bicycles," he said.
He further said, "I went to CPM's 19th party congress at Coimbatore on a bicycle from Telangana in 2008, and I travelled by the same bicycle now. I consider this bicycle as a treasure, which has seen two party congresses, and I hope it will help me attend the next party congress as well."
Incessant rain, evening programmes cancelled
On the fourth day of the CPM's 24th party congress, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam songs were sung at the open air auditorium in Tamukkam ground. Following this Karnataka State Dollu Kunitha Women's Group performed their traditional dance on stage. Actor Prakash Raj, Directors Mari Selvaraj and TS Gnanavel arrived but they could not address the gathering as the program has been cancelled due to incessant rain.