…when Indira Gandhi had to resign from the post of JNU Chancellor because of Sitaram Yechury

This is from October 1977, when hundreds of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) took out a march to Indira Gandhi’s residence under the leadership of the then student union president Sitaram Yechury and demanded her resignation from the post of Chancellor of JNU. The protesters remained adamant on their demand. They refused to bow down. After this, Indira Gandhi came out of her residence. Then Sitaram Yechury firmly read a memorandum demanding Indira Gandhi’s resignation and Indira stood next to him. The result of this demonstration was that Indira Gandhi resigned from the post of Chancellor a few days later.

This is where Yechury’s political career began and since then he never looked back as he became the most popular face of the CPI(M) in Delhi. A gentle and affable Marxist leader, Sitaram Yechury had good relations with leaders of other parties despite political differences. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury died on 12 September at the age of 72 in AIIMS, Delhi.

Popularly known as SRY among his supporters, Yechury was born on August 12, 1952 in Madras. His father was an engineer while his mother was a government official. After completing his schooling in Andhra Pradesh, he had to move to Delhi due to the agitation for a separate Telangana state. An academically bright student, Yechury completed his graduation in economics from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University. It was here that he first met fellow communist Prakash Karat.

In 1975, Yechury completed his postgraduate studies in economics from JNU. From a very young age, Yechury was influenced by the communist movement. It was at JNU that Yechury learnt the basics of politics and in 1974 he joined the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M). In fact, Yechury was the first president of the SFI who was not from West Bengal or Kerala, which was a Left Front stronghold at the time. He joined the CPI(M) in 1975.

However, the Left leader had to give up his PhD as he went underground after the imposition of Emergency. He was later arrested for planning a resistance movement. After the Emergency was lifted, Yechury became president of the JNU Students Union three times between 1977 and 1978. He rose rapidly in the party and became a member of the CPM’s Central Committee at the age of 32 and a member of the Politburo (the highest decision-making body) at the age of 40.

Sitaram Yechury took over the reins of the CPI(M) in 2015, when the party was at its lowest ebb after losing power in West Bengal for the first time in 34 years. The party also failed to form a government in Tripura in 2018 after ruling the state for 25 years.

Yechury also served as a Rajya Sabha MP from 2005-2017, later elected party general secretary for two more terms. However, the Left Front failed to gain ground. It is now in power only in Kerala and has four MLAs each in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

A strong supporter of coalition politics, Communist leader Yechury was a key player in the common programme of the United Front government in 1996 and the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government in 2004 and 2009.

Yechury has also written several books such as ‘Left Hand Drive’, ‘What is this Hindu Rashtra’, ‘Socialism in 21st Century’, ‘Communalism vs Secularism’ etc. He is survived by his wife, journalist Seema Chishti and three children.