Prakash Karat
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General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
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62 years as on May 2010 (Date of Birth: 07/02/1948)
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Graduated from Madras Christian College, B.A. (Economics). Awarded medal for best outgoing student for all-round activities.
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Post-Graduate degree M.Sc (Politics) from University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was rusticated from the University in 1970 for an anti-apartheid protest action which was suspended on good behaviour.
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Joined CPI(M) in 1970.
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Worked as an aide to A.K. Gopalan, leader of the CPI(M) Parliamentary groups for two years.
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President -- Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (1972-1973)
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President -- Students Federation of India (1974-1979)
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Worked underground for one a half years during the Emergency in India in 1975-76.
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Arrested twice. Spent 8 days in prison.
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Secretary -- Delhi State Committee of CPI(M) (1982-1985)
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Elected to Central Committee of CPI(M) in 1985
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Elected to Polit Bureau of CPI(M) in 1992.
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Elected General Secretary in the 18th Congress of teh Party in 2005.
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Re-elected as General Secretary in the 19th Congress in 2008
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Editor, Editorial Board of `The Marxist’, theoretical journal of the CPI(M).
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Managing Director of LeftWord Books, a leading Leftwingpublishing house.
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Author of books: i ) Language, Nationality and Politics in India (1972); ii) Edited "A World to Win" Essays on the Communist Manifesto (1999); iii) Edited “Across Time and Continents: A tribute to Victor Kiernan” (2003); iv) Subordinate Ally: The Nuclear Deal and India-US Strategic Relations (2008)
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Married to Brinda Karat, Member of the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M).
