The CPIM lost one of its staunchest pillars today as Sitaram Yechury, the party’s three-time general secretary, strategist, think tank, author and editor of its mouthpiece People’s Democracy for over two decades, died at the age of 72 today. The veteran leader had been ailing for some time and was admitted at Delhi’s All-India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS. He was being treated for acute respiratory tract infection and was on respiratory support.
Over the last five decades, Yechury, a former Rajya Sabha MP from Bengal, left his imprint not just on the CPM but also the national political canvas — playing an active role in drawing up the Common Minimum Programme for the United Front government in 1996. He was also a key figure in the coalition-building during the formation of the United Progressive Alliance government in 2004 — a role for which he was regarded as the bearer of the legacy of veteran party leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet.
Yechury’s association with Leftist thoughts go back to his student days in Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he was doing his Masters’ degree in Economics. Along with the other key CPM leader Prakash Karat, he built up the formidable Left bastion in JNU that still endures.
In 1975, he was jailed for organising resistance to the Emergency. Part of the CPM students’ wing Students’ Federation of India, he was elected thrice to head it. A holder of a politburo seat for 32 years, he had succeeded Prakash Karat as the party general secretary in 2015 and was elected for three terms.
A Central leader of the CPM tasked with reviving the party in Bengal and Kerala, he had accepted it as a challenge. The ailing leader had last uploaded a video on August 22 — days after he was hospitalised — a condolence message for former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. “It’s my loss that I was not able to physically attend this memorial meeting and pay my homage to Com. Buddhadev Bhattacharya”, read the caption of his post.
His death was condoled by leaders across the political divide — a mark of his ability to keep personal connections despite political differences.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh spoke of their three-decade association and frequent collaborations. “Sitaram Yechury – a very fine human being, a multilingual bibliophile, an unrepentant Marxist with a pragmatic streak, a pillar of the CPM, and a superb Parliamentarian with a wonderful wit and sense of humour – is most sadly no more.”
“Our association stretched over three decades, and we collaborated closely at different occasions. He had friends across the political spectrum and was admired for the strength of his convictions and for his most engaging personality,” Mr Ramesh added.
