Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), has passed away at the age of 72. He breathed his last at AIIMS, Delhi, where he was admitted to the ICU.
The party announced with deep sorrow that their beloved comrade Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) General Secretary, passed away on September 12 at 3:03 PM at AIIMS, New Delhi. He had been suffering from a respiratory infection that led to complications.
In this time of grief, Yechury's family decided to donate his body to AIIMS, New Delhi, for teaching and research purposes. The CPI(M) leader was admitted to AIIMS on August 19 after complaining of a high fever. He had recently undergone cataract surgery.
Sitaram Yechury was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and had been a member of the CPI(M) Politburo since 1992.
He served as a Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal from 2005 to 2017. Yechury began his political career by joining the Student Federation of India (SFI) in 1974. and became a member of the CPI(M) the following year.
Expressing his sorrow over the passing of Sitaram Yechury, Rahul Gandhi posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Sitaram Yechury was a friend of his. He described Yechury as a guardian of India's ideals and someone with a deep understanding of the country. Rahul Gandhi added that he would fondly remember their long discussions. In this moment of grief, he extended his heartfelt condolences to Yechury's family, friends, and followers.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee posted on X, expressing her sorrow over the passing of Sitaram Yechury. She described him as an experienced parliamentarian and stated that his death is a loss to national politics. She extended her condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.
Sitaram Yechury was born on August 12, 1952, in Madras (Chennai) into a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family. His father, Sarveshwar Somayajula Yechury, was an engineer with the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, and his mother, Kalpakam Yechury, was a government official.
He was raised in Hyderabad and completed his schooling up to the tenth grade at All Saints High School, Hyderabad.
Yechury later attended Presidents Estate School in New Delhi, where he achieved the All-India First Rank in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Higher Secondary Examination.
He pursued a BA (Honours) in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, followed by an MA in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
During the Emergency period, he was arrested while he was a student at JNU.
Yechury was well-known for his powerful and articulate speeches in the Rajya Sabha on various issues. He was multilingual, speaking Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, and Malayalam.
Additionally, he was well-versed in Hindu mythology and frequently used these references in his speeches, particularly when criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yechury was one of the most vocal critics of the Narendra Modi government and its liberal economic policies.
