Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary, passes away

The Indian Express, Sept 12: CPI(M) general secretary and former Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury passed away on Thursday following prolonged illness. He was 72.

He was admitted in the intensive care unit of AIIMS, Delhi and was being treated for acute respiratory tract infection. Over the past few days, he had been on respiratory support, under treatment by a multidisciplinary team of doctors.

Yechury succeeded Prakash Karat as the general secretary of the CPM in 2015.

Yechury had learnt the ropes under late party leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who had played major roles in the coalition era governance first during the National Front government of V P Singh and the United Front government of 1996-97, both of which the CPI(M) had supported from outside.

Yechury further honed his skills when the Left parties backed the first UPA government often putting pressure on the Congress-led regime in policy-making.

He had also played a critical role in the talks with the government on the Indo-US nuclear deal that led to the Left parties withdrawing support to the UPA-I government because of Karat’s stubborn stand.

Yechury, who joined the Students Federation of India (SFI) in 1974 and became a member of the party the very next year, was arrested a few months later during the Emergency.