Veteran CPM Leader Sitaram Yechury Passes Away at 72

Veteran Left leader and CPM general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, passed away this afternoon at the age of 72. Yechury had been undergoing treatment for respiratory ailments at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Admitted to the emergency ward on August 19, he was later shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Although suffering from a pneumonia-like infection, the exact nature of his ailment had not been disclosed by the doctors. Yechury, who recently underwent cataract surgery, was a prominent figure in Indian politics.

Yechury’s political career spanned several decades, beginning with his involvement in the Students’ Federation of India and his subsequent arrest during the Emergency in 1975 while pursuing his doctorate in Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was a member of the Politburo, the CPM’s top decision-making body, for over three decades and served as a Rajya Sabha member from 2005 to 2017. Known for his role in drafting the Common Minimum Programme for the United Front government in 1996 and contributing to the formation of the UPA government in 2004, Yechury was a key architect of coalition politics in India.

An alumnus of Delhi’s St Stephen’s College and JNU, Yechury was thrice elected president of the JNU Student’s Union. He forged a lifelong bond with fellow leader Prakash Karat during his student years. His passing marks the end of an era in Indian leftist politics, where he was respected for his intellectual rigor and unwavering commitment to the working class.

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