From JNUSU Chief To Seasoned Parliamentarian, A Look At Sitaram Yechury's 50-year Political Career

Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a former Rajya Sabha MP, passed away on Thursday at the age of 72 after a prolonged illness.

The CPI(M) stated that Yechury passed away after “battling a severe lung infection” at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

Describing Yechury as the “topmost leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist),” the party referred to his passing as an “untimely demise.”

“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,” the CPI(M) said in a statement.

Who Is Sitaram Yechury?

Yechury was born into a Brahmin family on 12 August 1952 in Chennai. After completing his schooling in Hyderabad, he moved to Delhi in 1969 to continue his studies. He earned a degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and then pursued postgraduate studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

He was elected as the fifth general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 2015 and re-elected for a second term in 2018. He served as a Rajya Sabha MP from 2005 to 2017 and was honoured with the Best Parliamentarian Award in 2017.

Throughout his 50-year political career, Yechury began as an activist with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in 1974 and served as the JNU Students’ Union President. He remained steadfast in his commitment to Marxism-Leninism.

Role During Emergency

In 1975, he joined the CPI(M) and actively resisted the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi. During this period, he went into hiding and was briefly arrested. One notable moment from this period was when Yechury led a march of JNU students to Indira Gandhi’s residence in 1977, presenting a list of grievances and demanding her resignation as chancellor of JNU. Gandhi was holding the position despite her defeat in the Lok Sabha elections after the Emergency, as per an Indian Express report.

After the Emergency, Yechury was elected president of the JNU Students’ Union three times between 1977 and 1978. He joined the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1985 and became a member of the Politburo in 1992. He was also the All India President of the Students Federation of India from 1984 to 1986.

Additionally, Yechury was recognised for upholding the coalition-building legacy of former general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet. He worked with P. Chidambaram to draft the Common Minimum Programme for the United Front government in 1996 and played a crucial role in the coalition-building efforts during the formation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004.

Yechury is survived by his wife, Seema Chishti, the editor of The Wire, as well as a son and a daughter. His elder son, Ashish Yechury, passed away from Covid-19 in 2021.