Delhi.12.09.2024: Sitaram Yechury, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), has passed away at the age of 72. He died at 3:30 PM on Thursday while receiving treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi due to breathing difficulties and other health issues.
Yechury was admitted to AIIMS on August 19 with a lung infection. Born on August 12, 1952, in Chennai to Yechury Sarveshwara Somayazulu and Kalpakam, Yechury joined the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in 1974 and became a primary member of the CPM in 1975. In 1985, he was elected to the Central Committee of the CPM.
He made a significant impact on the communist movement in India, rising from the student movement to become a national leader. He served as a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) from 2005 to 2017. In 1985, he became a member of the Central Committee during the Twelfth Party Congress. He worked closely with senior leaders like P. Sundarayya, E. M. S. Namboodiripad (EMS), B. T. Ranadive (BTR), Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Basava Punnaiah, and Jyoti Basu. He joined the Politburo after the 14th Party Congress in 1992.
Yechury was known for his strong opposition to sectarianism and neoliberal policies in Parliament. He chaired the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture and played a key role in preparing important reports. He was also instrumental in the formation of the United Front government in 1996 and the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004.
Yechury completed his early education in Hyderabad before obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a Master’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He began research in economics but had to stop due to his arrest during the Emergency in the mid-1970s.
Yechury was a prominent leader who played a crucial role in shaping India’s political and social landscape through mass movements. He was married to Seema Chishti, a well-known journalist and writer. He had two children: his daughter, Akhila Yechury, who is a university teacher in the UK, and his son, Ashish Yechury, who was also a journalist.
Fluent in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Bengali, Yechury authored several books, including “Left Hand Drive,” “What is Hindu Rashtra,” “Socialism in the Twenty-First Century,” “Communalism versus Secularism,” and “Ghrina Ki Rajneethi” (in Hindi).
