00:00Sitaram Yachuri, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, Marxist, CPIM,
00:18passed away at the age of 72.
00:21His death occurred while undergoing treatment for a lung infection at the All India Institute
00:26of Medical Sciences, Ames, in New Delhi.
00:30Yachuri was admitted to Ames on 19 August due to breathing difficulties.
00:36As his condition deteriorated, he was placed on ventilator support.
00:42Born on 12 August 1952 in Madras, now Chennai, Yachuri hailed from East Godavari in Andhra
00:49Pradesh.
00:50He was son of Sarveshwar, Soumyaji, Yachuri and Kalpika.
00:56His educational journey led him to St. Stephen College in New Delhi, where he graduated in
01:00economics followed by the master's degree in the same field from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
01:07It was during his time in JNU that Yachuri was drawn into the Communist Party.
01:12He joined the Students' Federation of India in 1974 and went on to serve as the JNU University
01:20Union President three times.
01:22Although he enrolled for a PhD at JNU, he was unable to complete due to his involvement
01:28in underground activities during the emergency period.
01:32Yachuri's political career was also marked by significant milestones and rapid ascension
01:37within the communist movement.
01:38He was arrested in 1975 during the Emergency, a pivotal moment in his political journey.
01:44In 1978, he was elected as the National Joint Secretary of SFI and by 1986, he had risen
01:52to become the National President.
01:56His progression within the CPM was equally impressive.
01:59At the young age of 32, Yachuri was the youngest member of the CPM Central Committee in 1984.
02:05He was then inducted into the Central Secretariat of the Party Congress held in Thiruvananthapuram
02:11in 1988 and then in 1992, he was elevated to the Politburo at the Party's Congress in
02:18Madras.
02:19However, the pinnacle of Yachuri's political career came in 2015 when he took over as CPM
02:25National General Secretary from Prakash Karat at Vishakhapatnam Party Congress.
02:31He was re-elected in 2018 and then again in 2022, marking his third term as the party's
02:37national leader.
02:39Beyond his party's role, Yachuri also served as a firm opposition leader, the editor of
02:43People's Democracy Weekly and was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal in
02:482005.
02:50He was known for his intellectual prowess, radical skills and his ability to bridge ideological
02:55divides.
02:56Yachuri's personal life was marked by his marriage to prominent media personality Seema
03:01Chishti.
03:02The couple had three children, late journalist Ashish Yachuri, Dr. Akhila Yachuri and Danish.
03:13Log on to OneIndia.com for more updates.
