Sitaram Yechury | |
|---|---|
 Yechury in 2013 | |
| General Secretary of theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| In office 19 April 2015 – 12 September 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Prakash Karat |
| Succeeded by | M. A. Baby |
| Member of thePolitburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| In office 10 January 1992 – 12 September 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 19 August 2005 – 18 August 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Abani Roy |
| Succeeded by | Shanta Chhetri |
| Constituency | West Bengal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-08-12)12 August 1952 |
| Died | 12 September 2024(2024-09-12) (aged 72) New Delhi, India |
| Political party | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Spouse | Seema Chishti |
| Relations | Mohan Kanda (maternal uncle) |
| Alma mater | Jawaharlal Nehru University (MA) St. Stephen's College (BA) |
Sitaram Yechury (12 August 1952 – 12 September 2024) was an IndianMarxist politician and the General Secretary of theCommunist Party of India (Marxist), who was a member of thePolitburo of the CPI(M) from 1992 until his death in September 2024. Previously, he was aMember of Parliament, Rajya Sabha,West Bengal, from 2005 to 2017.
He was married to Seema Chishti, founding editor of news publicationThe Wire.
Yechury was born on 12 August 1952 into aTelugu Brahmin family inMadras.[1][2] His father Sarveswara Somayajula Yechury and mother Kalpakam Yechury were natives ofKakinada,Andhra Pradesh. His father was an engineer in theAndhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation.[3] His mother was a government officer and lived in Kakinada till her death in 2021.[4]
Yechury grew up inHyderabad, and studied at theAll Saints High School, Hyderabad, till his tenth standard.[5] TheTelangana agitation of 1969 brought him to Delhi.[4] He joined Presidents Estate School,New Delhi, and achieved the All-India first rank in theCentral Board of Secondary Education Higher Secondary Examination.[6] Subsequently, he studied B.A. (Hons.) in Economics atSt. Stephen's College, Delhi,[7] and M.A. in Economics, fromJawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), achieving first class in both. He joined the JNU for a Ph.D. in Economics,[8] which was aborted with his arrest duringThe Emergency.[9]
Yechury joined theStudents' Federation of India (SFI) in 1974. A year later, he joined theCommunist Party of India (Marxist).[10]
Yechury was arrested in 1975 duringthe Emergency while he was still a student at JNU. He went underground for some time, organising resistance to the Emergency, before his arrest. After the Emergency, he was elected as the President of theJNU Students' Union thrice during one year (1977–78).[11] Yechury, along withPrakash Karat, created a leftist unit at JNU.[12]
In 1978, Yechury was elected as All-India Joint Secretary of SFI, and went on to become the All India President of SFI. He was the first president of SFI who was not from Kerala or Bengal.[4] In 1984, he was elected to the Central Committee of theCPI(M). In 1985, the party constitution was modified, and a five-man central secretariat—Yechury,Prakash Karat,Sunil Moitra,P. Ramachandran andS. Ramachandran Pillai—was elected to work under the direction and control of the politburo.[12] He left the SFI in 1986. He was then elected to thePolitburo at the Fourteenth Congress in 1992[13] and as the fifth General Secretary of CPI(M) at the party's 21st party Congress inVisakhapatnam on 19 April 2015. He and politburo memberS. Ramachandran Pillai were the frontrunners for the post but the former was unanimously chosen after Pillai chose to withdraw.[14] He succeededPrakash Karat, who had held the post for three consecutive terms, from 2005 to 2015. He was again re-elected as General Secretary of CPI(M) at the 22nd Party Congress held at Hyderabad in April 2018.[15] He was elected for a third term as General Secretary of CPI(M) at the 23rd Party Congress held atKannur,Kerala in April 2022.[16]
Yechury was considered to uphold the coalition-building legacy of former general secretaryHarkishan Singh Surjeet. He worked withP. Chidambaram to draft thecommon minimum program for theUnited Front government in 1996 and had actively pursued the coalition-building process during the formation of theUnited Progressive Alliance government in 2004 andIndian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance in 2023.[17][18][2]
Yechury headed the party's international department, and the party used to depute him as fraternal delegate to the party conferences of most socialist countries.[19] A prolific writer, he authored many books and wrote the fortnightly columnLeft Hand Drive forHindustan Times, a widely circulated daily.[20] He edited party's fortnightly newspaperPeople's Democracy for 20 years.[21]
%2c_Shri_Sitaram_Yechury%2c_in_New_Delhi_(1).jpg)
Yechury was elected toRajya Sabha fromWest Bengal in July 2005.[22] He was known for bringing several popular issues to the notice of parliament and for raising questions on important issues. On blaming by the ruling party for frequent disruptions in parliament, he said that government cannot escape from its responsibility by blaming the opposition for frequent disruptions. He justified disruptions in parliament by calling it a legitimate process in a democracy.[23]
During the negotiations for theIndo-US Nuclear Pact, Yechury listed in the Rajya Sabha all the conditions that the CPM required of the agreement. After theManmohan Singh government satisfied all the conditions, he was overruled byPrakash Karat, who claimed that the agreement still violated the CPM's idea of independent foreign policy. It was said that this left Yechury "displeased and helpless".[24]
On 3 March 2015 during parliament session, Yechury moved an amendment to PresidentPranab Mukherjee's address on the inaugural day of Parliament's budget session. This was passed by division of votes inRajya Sabha, and it was an embarrassment to the Modi government. Parliamentary affairs ministerVenkaiah Naidu stated that Yechury's concern had been noted and requested him to not go ahead with the amendment as this was not a convention. Yechury said normally he would accept such a request, but he was pressing for the amendment as the government left no choice as even after 14 hours of debate, opposition was denied opportunity to seek clarification on the Prime Minister's reply. This was the fourth time in Rajya Sabha's history that an amendment moved by the opposition to the motion of thanks to the President's address had been passed.[25][26]
Yechury was a staunch critic of US foreign policy. He also criticised the visit of the US presidentBarack Obama as the chief guest of the 2015Republic Day parade.[27] While blaming the US for rise of Islamic fundamentalism, he said
US military interventions in West Asia have created a situation of complete uncertainty. The military interventions have always given birth to the rise of fundamentalism, which we see today in the menace that has been created by the ISIS. They have given birth to such tendencies.[27]
He also blamed the US for its hegemonic attitude; he said
Now, in their (US) quest for global hegemony, they are trying to capture the energy resources in the world. They are trying to control the entire process of the energy transfers or trade in the world. And for this reason, their military interventions has also continuing to deny the Palestinians their legitimate right to a homeland.[27]
He was also a staunch critic ofabrogation of article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir.[28]
On 12 September 2020, he along withYogendra Yadav and others was named in the supplementary chargesheet byDelhi Police for their alleged role in the2020 Delhi riots[29][30] over which Yechury responded thatBharatiya Janata Party was misusing its power to target the opposition.[31]
Yechury also supported the1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, claiming the students were "CIA stooges and bourgeois delinquents." He also gave a speech in JNU in support of the Chinese government.[32][33][34]
Yechury was married to journalistSeema Chishti, who is the editor ofThe Wire, and formerly the Delhi editor of BBC Hindi Service.[35] She was the Resident Editor ofThe Indian Express, Delhi. Yechury said in aScoopWhoop episode that his wife financially sustained him.[36] He was married before, to Indrani Mazumdar, daughter ofVina Mazumdar, and has a daughter and a son from this marriage.[37] His daughter, Akhila Yechury, is a major in history and teaches at theUniversity of Edinburgh andUniversity of St. Andrews.[4][38] His son Ashish Yechury died on 22 April 2021 due toCOVID-19, at the age of 34.[39]Mohan Kanda IAS, former Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, is Yechury's maternal uncle.[3]
Yechury was admitted to the department of emergency medicine atAIIMS Delhi on 19 August 2024 and was put on respiratory support after his condition turned critical in September, according to a statement by the CPI(M).[40][41] He displayed symptoms of apneumonia-like chest infection and died on 12 September, at the age of 72, after suffering from an acute respiratory infection.[42][43][44] His body was donated to AIIMS for teaching and research purposes by his family.[45][46]
Yechury authored the following books:
Yechury edited the following books:
Luckily my wife [financially] sustains me
Mr. Yechury released another book on Karl Marx and said that the ideas of Marx are being read now to address the problems relating to the global economic crisis.
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