Sitaram Yechury’s Journey: Five-Decade Legacy of Marxist Leadership, Fought Emergency

New Delhi: Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, and a member of the Politburo of the CPI since 1992, passed away on Thursday at the age of 72 due to prolonged illness. The senior CPI(M) leader was undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi for an acute respiratory tract infection. 

Known in the powerful circles as an accommodative Comrade, Sitaram Yechury, hailing from Chennai, had started his journey towards the political corridors by becoming the President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union on the Students' Federation of India (SFI) ticket during the turbulent Emergency period during former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s tenure in 1975. Many have credited him for making JNU a bastion for the SFI and other left front organisations.  

Yechury An Economics Graduate

Yechury pursued a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Economics at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, where he also graduated at the top of his class. He went on to earn a Master’s degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and began a PhD in Economics there, which was interrupted by his arrest during 'The Emergency' in 1975.

Yechury’s Rise in CPI(M) Cadres

Together with Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury was instrumental in turning JNU into a bastion of leftist ideology. By 1984, he had been elected to the CPI(M) Central Committee and soon became a full-time member, advancing through the ranks from 1978 to 1998. He became a politburo member of the CPI(M) in 1992. 

Played Role in Formation of United Front Government In 1996

Yechury is noted for his efforts to build coalitions aimed at countering right-wing influence. Alongside P. Chidambaram, he played a key role in drafting the Common Minimum Programme for the United Front government in 1996 and was instrumental in garnering CPI(M)'s support for the first United Progressive Alliance government.

In the debates over the Indo-US Nuclear Pact, Yechury outlined the conditions the CPI(M) sought for endorsing the agreement in the Rajya Sabha. Despite the Manmohan Singh government meeting these conditions, Yechury was ultimately overruled by Prakash Karat, who contended that the pact still violated the CPI(M)'s principles of an "independent foreign policy," which left Yechury feeling "displeased and powerless."

Became Face of CPI(M) in New Delhi

Demonstrating a blend of solid ideological principles and political skill, Yechury was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP from 2005 to 2017.