Veteran political leader and CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit at the AIIMS New Delhi, died this afternoon. He was 72. His passing away was condoled by leaders spanning the political spectrum. The CPI-M leader was admitted to AIIMS on August 19 for the treatment of a pneumonia-like chest infection. Mr Yechury is survived by his wife and senior journalist Seema Chishti, daughter Akhila, and son Daanish. His 34-year-old son, Ashish Yechury, died of Covid in 2021.
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A prominent leftist leader, renowned for his eloquence and active roles in both parliament and activism, he has left a mark on every facet of modern politics with his exceptional organisational skills and wide-reaching influence across political parties in India. Beginning his political career in the 1970s, he has also embraced modern technology and social media with remarkable ease. His interviews with popular podcasters have frequently gained attention, though he has not been immune to the spread of fake news in the digital age.
An old image of Sitaram Yechury with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi once went viral, accompanied by misleading information. A few years ago, multiple social media accounts shared a post falsely claiming that in 1975, during the Emergency, Indira Gandhi entered Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) with Delhi Police, assaulted CPI leader Yechury, who was then president of the JNU Students’ Union, and forced him to resign and publicly apologise for protesting against the Emergency. The archived version of one such post can be seen here.
However, the actual situation was very different. This photograph was shot outside of Indira Gandhi’s home, not at JNU. This image was taken when the emergency ended in 1977. Mr Yechury organised a demonstration in 1977 to demand that Indira Gandhi resign from her position as chancellor of the institution after being elected president of the JNU Students’ Union. Indira Gandhi was listening to Yechury as she read out the demands of the students’ union in the picture. Indira Gandhi held on to the post despite losing the Lok Sabha polls, which were held following the Emergency.
An alumnus of Delhi’s St Stephen’s College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mr Yechury started his political career with the Students’ Federation of India and joined the CPIM in 1975. He was pursuing his doctorate in economics from JNU when the Indira Gandhi government imposed the Emergency in 1975, and he was arrested along with many other leaders who would later play a key role in national politics. His PhD remained incomplete.
Mr Yechury was elected president of the JNU Student’s Union three times in a year after he was out of jail. It was during this time that he also met Prakash Karat, who would remain a lifelong companion.
