Sitaram Yechury | |
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General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
In office 19 April 2015 – 12 September 2024 | |
Preceded by | Prakash Karat |
Member of the Politburo 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 | Madras, Madras State (now Chennai, Tamil Nadu), India | 12 August 1952
Died | All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi[1] |
Political party | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Spouse | Seema Chishti |
Relations | Mohan Kanda (Maternal Uncle) |
Alma mater | St. Stephen's College, Delhi (BA), Jawaharlal Nehru University (MA) |
Website | Party Official website |
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Sitaram Yechury (12 August 1952 – 12 September 2024)[2] was an Indian Marxist politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist),[3] and a member of the Politburo of the CPI(M) since 1992. Previously, he was a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from West Bengal from 2005 to 2017.
Yechury was born on 12 August 1952 into a Telugu-speaking family in Madras.[4] His father Sarveswara Somayajula Yechury and mother Kalpakam Yechury are natives of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. His father was an engineer in the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation.[5] His mother was a government officer, and currently lives in Kakinada.[6]
Yechury grew up in Hyderabad, and studied at the All Saints High School, Hyderabad till his tenth standard.[7] The Telangana agitation of 1969 brought him to Delhi.[6] He joined Presidents Estate School, New Delhi and achieved the All-India first rank in the Central Board of Secondary Education Higher Secondary Examination.[8] Subsequently, he studied B.A. (Hons.) in Economics at St. Stephen's College, Delhi[9] and M.A. in Economics, from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), achieving first class in both. He joined the JNU for a Ph.D. in Economics,[10] which was aborted with his arrest during The Emergency.
Yechury joined the Students' Federation of India (SFI) in 1974. A year later, he joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Yechury was arrested in 1975 during the 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 the JNU Students' Union thrice during one year (1977–78).[11] Yechury, along with Prakash Karat, was instrumental in creating an impregnable leftist bastion 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.[6] In 1984, he was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M). In 1985, the party constitution was modified and a five-man central secretariat was elected, consisting of younger stalwarts - him, Prakash Karat, Sunil Moitra, P. Ramachandran and S. Ramachandran Pillai - to work under the direction and control of the politburo.[12] He left the SFI in 1986. He was then elected to the Politburo at the Fourteenth Congress in 1992[13] and as the fifth General Secretary of CPI(M) at the party's 21st party Congress in Visakhapatnam on 19 April 2015. He and politburo member S. Ramachandran Pillai were the frontrunners for the post but the former was unanimously chosen after Pillai chose to withdraw.[14] He succeeded Prakash 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 during 18 April 2018 to 22 April 2018.[15] He was elected for a third term as General Secretary of CPI(M) at the 23rd Party Congress held at Kannur, Kerala during 6 April 2022 to 10 April 2022.[16]
Yechury was considered to uphold the coalition-building legacy of former general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet. He worked with P. Chidambaram to draft the common minimum programme for the United Front government in 1996 and had actively pursued the coalition-building process during the formation of the United Progressive Alliance government in 2004.[17][18] He has been playing a pivotal role in building a secular democratic pro-people government since the beginning of his political career. He has always fought for the fundamental rights of people and believes in "Unity in Diversity". He has always raised his voice against violence.
Yechury has headed the party's international department and the party used to depute him as fraternal delegate to the party conferences of most socialist countries. A prolific writer, he has authored many books and writes the fortnightly column Left Hand Drive for Hindustan Times, a widely circulated daily.[19] He has edited party's fortnightly newspaper People's Democracy for the past 20 years.[20]
Yechury was elected to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal in July 2005.[21] 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 justifies disruptions in parliament by calling it a legitimate process in a democracy.[22]
During the negotiations for the Indo-US Nuclear Pact, Yechury listed in the Rajya Sabha all the conditions that the CPM required of the agreement. After the Manmohan Singh government satisfied all the conditions, he was overruled by Prakash 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".[23]
On 3 March 2015 during parliament session, Yechury moved an amendment to President Pranab Mukherjee's address on the inaugural day of Parliament's budget session, which was passed by division of votes in Rajya Sabha which brought huge embarrassment to the Modi government. Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah 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.[24][25]
Yechury was a staunch critic of US foreign policy. He also criticised the visit of the US president Barack Obama as the chief guest of the 2015 Republic Day parade.[26]
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.[26]
He also blames 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.[26]
He was also a staunch critic of abrogation of article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir.[27]
Yechury was married to journalist Seema Chisti, who is the editor of The Wire, and formerly the Delhi editor of BBC Hindi Service.[28] She was the Resident Editor of Indian Express, Delhi. Yechury said in a ScoopWhoop episode that his wife financially sustains him.[29] He was married before, to Indrani Mazumdar, daughter of Vina Mazumdar, and has a daughter and a son from this marriage.[30] His daughter, Akhila Yechury, is a major in history and teaches at the University of Edinburgh and University of St. Andrews.[6][31] Mohan Kanda IAS, former Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, is Yechury's maternal uncle.[5]
His son Ashish Yechury died on 22 April 2021 due to COVID-19, at the age of 34.[32]
On 12 September 2020, he along with Yogendra Yadav and others was named in the supplementary chargesheet by Delhi Police for their alleged role in 2020 Delhi riots[33][34] over which Yechury responded that BJP was misusing its power to target the opposition.[35]
Yechury was admitted to the emergency department of AIIMS Delhi on 19 August and was put on respiratory support after his condition turned critical in September, according to a statement by the CPI(M).[36][37]
He died from pneumonia on 12 September 2024 at the age of 72 at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi after suffering from an acute respiratory infection. He is survived by this wife, daughter Akhila and son Daanish.[2][38]
Yechury has authored the following books:
Yechury has edited the following books:
Luckily my wife [financially] sustains me
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