CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury dies at 70

SRINAGAR — General Secretary CPI(M), Sitaram Yechury, passed away on Thursday in AIIMS, New Delhi after a brief illness.

On the demise of Yechury, the J&K State Committee CPI(M) paid homage to the leader by dipping the red banner in his memory and conveyed its deepest sympathy and condolences to his family members.

Yechury, who joined the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in 1974, was elected as the national President of SFI. A year later, he joined CPI(M).

Yechury was the topmost leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), an outstanding leader of the Left movement and a well-known Marxist ideologue.

He was a brilliant student who secured a first class in both his undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in Economics. He joined the student movement at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1974 and became a leader of the Students Federation of India.

Yechury 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. He was arrested during the emergency for his political activities. 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. As part of the leadership team at the Party Centre for over three decades, he played an important role in formulating the political positions of the Party from time to time.

As head of the International Department of the Central Committee, he participated in various international forums of Communist and progressive forces and strengthened relations with socialist countries and solidarity with anti-imperialist movements.

Sitaram Yechury was the Editor of the Party’s weekly paper, People’s Democracy, for over two decades. He was also a prolific writer. His other main contribution to the ideological field was his critique of Hindutva, which was published in his books – What is this Hindu Rashtra? and Communalism vs Secularism.

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 an effective parliamentarian. He was given the best parliamentarian award in 2017.

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 periods 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 national politics is viewed by CPI(M) as a big blow for them and a grievous loss for the Left, democratic and secular forces.