Sitaram Yechury

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Sitaram Yechuri

Sitaram Yechury is an Indian politician, one of the most well known Communist faces in the country. He is a senior member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the party's Parliamentary group leader. He was born on 12 August 1952 in an Andhra Brahmin family hailing from Kakinada.

After school education in Hyderabad, he had to move to Delhi due to disruption of academic life as a result of the Telengana movement in 1969.

At Delhi, in 1970 he completed Higher Secondary (one Year Course) standing first in the All India merit list. In 1973, he completed B.A.(Hons) in Economics, first class, from St. Stephen's College.

In 1975, he completed M.A., first class, in Economics, from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. Subsequently, he joined Jawaharlal Nehru University for a Ph.D. degree which he could not complete due to his arrest during Emergency. He joined the Students Federation of India (SFI) in 1974. A year later, he joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

He was underground for some time, organising resistance to the Emergency, before his arrest in 1975. After the Emergency, he was elected as President of the JNU Students' Union thrice during one year (1977-78). He is the only JNU president to hold this unique distinction.

In 1978, he was elected as All India Joint Secretary of SFI, and went on the become the All India President of SFI. The left SFI in 1986. In 1984, he was invited to the Central Committee of the CPI(M). He was elected to the Central Committee in the CPI(M) XII Congress in 1985, to the Central Secretariat at the Thirteenth Congress in 1988 and to the Politburo at the Fourteenth Congress in 1992.

He was elected to Rajya Sabha from west Bengal in July 2005.^[1]

He is one of the most prolific Left writers in the country, having authored many books. His book on Saffron Brigade after the demolition of Babri Masjid is one of the most highest Left selling literature. An avid writer, he is a columnist with largely circulated daily, Hindustan Times.^[2]

A widely travelled person, Yechury is one of the few Indian leaders to have met Fidel Castro more than once. Yechury has represented his party at many international forums and communist conferences. Recently, he played a pivotal role in convincing the Nepali Maoists to embrace parliamentary democracy. He is currently the Head of the International Department of CPI(M) and Editor of the central party weekly organ, People's Democracy.^[3]

Yechury is married to journalist Seema Chishti. A former BBC correspondent, Seema is presently the Resident Editor of Indian Express, Delhi.