A Personal Tribute To The CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury

The general secretary of the CPI-M, Sitaram Yechury, who passed away on September 12 at the age of 72, defied all the clichés one associates with hardcore “commies”. From his appearance to his demeanour, he was like “one of us”. Meaning, he didn’t shove his ideology down anybody’s throat, nor was he judgmental about capitalists in his group. He was evolved enough to accept diverse points of view, without compromising on his own political beliefs.

With a track record as impressive as his, he could have been a pompous Marxist intellectual talking down to lesser, crassly bourgeois being. But, there he was with ready smile and a few warm words for anyone who came up to him. It was no wonder then the tributes which poured after his passing were genuinely heartfelt, even the ones from political opponent like West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who grudgingly has to admit… “his demise will be a loss for national politics”.

Known for his witty one-liners repartees, Yechury made friends across party lines and, to the best of anybody’s knowledge, had no foes. It is so fitting that his last message from hospital was a recorded tribute to former, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who has passed away last month. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi Said Yechury was “fierce in his determination to protect India’s diversity and was a powerful champion of secularism.” Theirs was a friendship that began in 2004 and continued till the very end. Rahul Gandhi described him as a “protector of the idea of India”.

Given his elitist upbringing (in a Telugu Brahmin home) and education (St Stephen’s and JNU, Delhi), Yechury was epitome of sophistication and charm. Even after the CPI-M lost to Mamata’s Trinamool Congress, he soldiered on valiantly, sticking to his unshakable beliefs, even as critics predicted his party’s doom. Soft-spoken and modest, Yechury could easily have been a publicity seeking, headlines chaser but he stuck to his brand of politics, constantly reaffirming his faith in India’s secular backbone. After his demise, one particular clip was widely shared—Yechury addressing Rajya Sabha during his farewell speech, talking passionately about nation’s “syncretic” culture in Hindi-English.

The few times we met in Central hall of Parliament I was stuck by what this chilled-out man he was — communicative, affable, approachable, knowledgeable, urbane and so articulate! On a flight from Kolkata to Jamshedpur, he chatted with passengers in fluent Bengali. He spoke like long lost friends—about books, art, cinema, philosophy and, of course, politics. He spoke lovingly about his family, particularly his son Ashish, whom he tragically lost to Covid-19 in 2021. Family associates say Yechury was never the same again.

His poignant farewell speech in Rajya Sabha will be his legacy. He reminded his co-MPs that we were all custodian of an India where all religions and belief systems were equally respected. While talking to friends of Yechury, all of them spoke with admiration and respect for an icon and intellectual who spent his life demonstrating what he profoundly believed in—a more equal India, tolerant, progressive, forward-thinking and free of religious strife. (IPA Service)