Sitaram Yechury, the General Secretary of the CPI(M), passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday (September 12) after a prolonged illness. He was 72 years old. According to hospital and party sources, Yechury had been in critical condition in recent days and was receiving respiratory support. He died at 3:05 pm. He had been admitted to the hospital on August 19 for treatment of a pneumonia-like chest infection.
Yechury served as a Rajya Sabha member representing West Bengal for two terms from 2005 to 2017. Born in Chennai on August 12, 1952, he was the All India President of the Students Federation of India, a member of the CPI(M) central committee since 1984, and a Politburo member since 1992. He became the General Secretary of the CPI(M) in April 2015.
He also authored several books on communalism, economic policy, and social and cultural issues. An avid lawn tennis player, he was also the champion of the inter-college tennis competition at Nizam College, Hyderabad.
Sitaram Yechury’s education
Born into a Brahmin family in what was then united Andhra Pradesh, Yechury completed his schooling in Hyderabad. However, he relocated to Delhi for higher education in 1969 due to disruptions in his academic life caused by the separate Telangana movement. After graduating in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, he continued his studies with a postgraduate degree at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Yechury’s 50-year-old political career
Sitaram Yechury began his political journey as a student leader at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) about 50 years ago and eventually became the General Secretary of the CPI(M) in 2015. Under his leadership, the CPI(M) formed a pre-poll alliance with Congress and other opposition parties, creating the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) last year.
Yechury’s political influence persisted within the opposition camp despite the CPI(M)’s diminished presence. In the 1970s, he gained prominence for blocking then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from attending a JNU event and reading out students’ demands for her resignation in front of her.
Yechury’s strong alliance with Congress
Despite some friction within the CPI(M) and Congress, Yechury established a strong relationship with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. This alliance was met with some irritation from CPI(M) and Congress leaders. At one point, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh humorously referred to Yechury as the “CPI(M) general secretary for Congress” during a press conference, prompting Sonia Gandhi to reprimand Ramesh for placing Yechury in an awkward position.
In 2022, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh humorously remarked that Yechury was a “two-in-one” general secretary. “He is general secretary of the CPI(M) and general secretary of the Congress also. And sometimes… his influence in the Congress is more than in the CPI(M).”