CPI-M Gen Secy Sitaram Yechury Passes Away

New Delhi: CPI-M general secretary and former Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury passed away on Thursday at the age of 72.

He was under treatment in the intensive care unit of AIIMS for acute respiratory tract infection.

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

Yechury had been trained under late party leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet. Yechury further honed his skills when the Left parties backed the first UPA government led by the Congress. 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 joined the Students Federation of India (SFI) in 1974. He became a member of the CPI-M in 1975. He was arrested during the Emergency.