Sitaram Yechury (1952-2024): A communist and gentleman

Sitaram Yechury (72), who was being monitored by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors at AIIMS and undergoing treatment for a pneumonia-like chest infection, passed away on Thursday, 12 September. His body has been donated for medical research, as per an AIIMS press release.

Yechury along with Prakash Karat, a contemporary, are generally credited with strengthening the leftist movement and the CPI(M). Both of them, as students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, worked closely with former CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet; Yechury in particular is believed to have co-drafted the common minimum programme for the United Front government in 1996 with P. Chidambaram.

Yechury also played a significant role in forming the United Progressive Alliance government in 2004 and was one of the architects of the INDIA bloc, the opposition grouping formed last year to take on the BJP in the general election for the Lok Sabha in 2024.

As the CPI(M) polit bureau said in its statement: "In the recent period, Sitaram Yechury devoted a lot of his time and energy towards forging a broad unity of the secular opposition parties, which took the shape of the INDIA bloc.  In both the period of the United Front government and later the UPA government, Sitaram was one of the key interlocutors for the CPI(M), which was supporting these coalitions.

"Given his amiable temperament, he had a wide circle of friends across the political spectrum and in all walks of life.  He was respected by all for his political integrity and commitment. 

"The untimely demise of Sitaram Yechury at this crucial juncture in our national politics is a big blow for the CPI(M) and a grievous loss for the Left, democratic and secular forces."

A life-long critic of the RSS and BJP and their brand of communal politics, he had sharply attacked the Union government on the Waqf Bill and the move to initiate lateral entry into the bureaucracy on a larger scale.

“Modi led NDA govt’s decision to induct 45 lateral entry officers of the rank of Jt. secys/ Directors/ Dy. Secys across 24 ministries is a clear attempt to infiltrate RSS personnel to further its agenda to subvert our Constitutional Scheme,” was one of his last social media posts before he was hospitalised on 19 August.

Born in 1952, Sitaram Yechury's entry to politics was through the SFI (Students’ Federation of India) in 1974. He joined the CPI(M) a year later. He has been a member of the CPI(M) politburo since 1992 and was a Member of the Rajya Sabha from 2005 to 2017. Denied a third term in the Rajya Sabha by the party, which allows only two terms in the Upper House of Parliament to its members, he devoted himself to the party organisation since 2017. He assumed charge as CPI(M) general secretary in 2015, succeeding Prakash Karat.

'SRY', as Sitaram Yechury was known in left circles, was arguably the most prominent face of the party and supporters insist he was the most dynamic general secretary since Harkishan Surjeet and was ideally suited to reach out to people in and outside the party.

A powerful public speaker, he was popular in left circles and was known for his affable nature, humour and inter-personal skills. He was much sought after as a mediator to paper over political differences.

He grew up in Hyderabad and studied there till 1969, his tenth standard before shifting to New Delhi in 1970. He joined Presidents Estate School and secured the All-India first rank in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) higher secondary examination.

He studied Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Economics at St Stephen's College of the Delhi University and followed it up with a Master of Arts degree in Economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Yechury also joined for a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) course in Economics at JNU. He had to drop out of in 1975 following his arrest during The Emergency imposed in 1975. Before his arrest, Yechury had gone underground, organising resistance. After the Emergency, he was elected president of the JNU Students' Union thrice in a row from 1977 onwards.

In 2021, Sitaram Yechury’s eldest son Ashish Yechury passed away at the age of 35 from Covid-19 complications . Ashish is survived by his wife Swati, his mother Indrani Mazumdar, sister Akhila and brother Danish. He had worked in The Times of India, IBN Live , Newslaundry and Pune Mirror.