From student politics to veteran communist leader: The life of Sitaram Yechury | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Seasoned CPM leader Sitaram Jechury died Thursday at the age of 72 after a long illness, ending a political legacy that spanned nearly five decades.
Yechury was treated for pneumonia at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
Yechury was born on August 12, 1952 in Chennai and grew up in Hyderabad and Delhi.
From campus to parliament
He started his political career from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where he became a prominent leader in the Students Federation of India (SFI) and was closely involved in student movements.
His activism during the state of emergency (1975-1977) made him even more of a fervent advocate of civil liberties and left-wing principles.
He was a member of the Rajya Sabha for 12 years, from 2005 to 2017. On 19 April 2015, he was elected as the fifth General Secretary of the CPIM at the 21st Party Congress in Visakhapatnam, succeeding Prakash Karat.
He also played a key role in the INDIA Bloc, the coalition of opposition parties. He was also acknowledged as one of the political mentors of Congress leader and Lok Sabha leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Yechury and his battle with the powerful
The communist leader successfully pressured Indira Gandhi to resign as the university’s vice-chancellor.
From being a comrade to the farmers during their recent protest to that of the migrants during Covid,
He was a voice critical of those in power, including the BJP government.
The communist leader has on several occasions opposed tax breaks for the rich and demanded investment in food security, the right to education, health care and infrastructure to ensure mass employment, demand and “genuine inclusive economic growth.”