No. 3 Position

Those who watch the stone-faced panjandrums of Communism elbowing for position atop Lenin's tomb on rubric days concluded last week that fast-rising, tough Nikita Khrushchev, 59, First Party Secretary since last March, is now No. 3 man. Khrushchev is a dogged bureaucrat who rose to power in a succession of nasty jobs--gauleiter of the unruly Ukraine and boss of the restless collective farmers.

Pravda listed him third among the Soviet bigwigs attending a recent Chinese exhibit in Moscow; he was also No. 3 in the communique announcing new Soviet concessions to East Germany and on the list of Presidium members attending the last Supreme Soviet. Current ratings: Malenkov, Molotov, Khrushchev, Marshals Voroshilov and Bulganin, Lazar Kaganovich (Stalin's brother-in-law). Still unheard from: Lavrenty Beria, once No. 2, now in jail awaiting trial as a traitor.

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