In a huge blow to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a loss to the nation as a whole, Sitaram Yechury, the General Secretary of the Party, passed away on 12th September after battling a severe lung infection at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He was 72 years of age.
“He was a leading light of the Left and was known for his ability to connect across the political spectrum. He also made a mark as an effective Parliamentarian,” stated Prime Minister and political rival Narendra Modi in his condolence message on X platform.
Mallikarjun Kharge, President of Congress Party, described Yechury as “a humble leader who chartered the unique territory of balancing personal equations with unflinching political ideologies.” Kharge said that Yechury was an excellent Parliamentarian and an outstanding intellectual who served the people of India with pragmatism blended with idealism. It is a great loss for all the liberal forces, for he was the collective conscience keeper of progressives, he added.
“The untimely demise of Sitaram Yechury at this crucial juncture in our national politics is a big blow to the CPI(M) and a grievous loss for the Left, democratic and secular forces”, the Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) stated on Thursday. It also mentioned that Yechury had a wide circle of friends across the political spectrum and in all walks of life, given his amiable temperament and was respected by all for his political integrity and commitment.
The Polit Bureau pays respectful homage to our beloved colleague and dips the red banner in his memory of “the topmost leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), an outstanding leader of the Left movement and a well-known Marxist ideologue”, it said.
The Polit Bureau also called upon all Party ranks “to unite and work harder to advance the struggle for an exploitation-free society” and stated that this is the best tribute that can be paid to him.
Sitaram Yechury was 12 August 1952 in Madras to parents who hailed from Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. He was a brilliant student who secured a first class in both his undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in economics.
He joined the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) while studying at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1974 and was thrice elected as President of the JNU Students Union within a span of two years. He was the All India President of the Students Federation of India from 1984 to 1986 and played an important role in developing the student organisation as an all-India force.
Sitaram Yechury joined the CPI(M) in 1975 and was arrested during the Emergency for his political activities when he was just 23 years of age. He was elected to the Central Committee of the Party in 1985 at the 12th Congress and he remained in the Central Committee till now. He was elected to the Central Secretariat in 1989 and to the Polit Bureau in 1992 at the 14th Congress of the Party.
He was elected as the General Secretary of the CPI(M) at the 21st Congress in 2015, a position he continued until now.
A prolific writer, Yechury was the Editor of the Party’s weekly paper, People’s Democracy, for over two decades and authored many books and wrote the fortnightly column Left Hand Drive for Hindustan Times.
Sitaram Yechury was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two terms from 2005 to 2017. He served as the leader of the CPI(M) group and was given the best parliamentarian award in 2017.
He was admitted to AIIMS, New Delhi on 19th August 2024 and was later put on respiratory support. His body will be donated to AIIMs for research as per his wishes.
Yechury’s body will be kept at the CPI (M) headquarters in New Delhi for public viewing and paying homage on 14th September from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm.
