Who Is Sitaram Yechury? A Lifelong Marxist Leader And Key Figure During The Emergency

**EDS: FILE IMAGE** Kolkata: In this Thursday, July 12, 2018 file image CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury interacts with the media at the party office in Kolkata. Yechury's condition is "critical" and he is on respiratory support at AIIMS in Delhi, his party said on Tuesday. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra) (PTI09_10_2024_000149B) *** Local Caption ***

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

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.

Yechury had been receiving treatment for a severe respiratory infection at the AIIMS hospital in Delhi. He was on respiratory support and under treatment by a multidisciplinary team of doctors.

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

Who Is Sitaram Yechury?

Yechury was born into a Brahmin family on 12 August 1952 in Andhra Pradesh. 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).

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 1984, alongside his JNU peer Prakash Karat, and became a member of the Politburo in 1992.

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.