CPI(M) General Secretary and former Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury passed away at 72 on Thursday, 12 September. He was undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi for an acute respiratory tract infection.
Published Sep 12, 2024 | 6:04 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 12, 2024 | 7:25 PM
Sitaram Yechury.
CPI(M) General Secretary and former Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury passed away at 72 on Thursday, 12 September. He was undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi for an acute respiratory tract infection.
My acquaintance with Sitaram (Yechury) dates back three generations. My grandfather and his grandfather, Bhimsankaran, knew each other since the 1920s.
However, my first personal interaction with Sitaram happened much later. We never met during our younger years.
During the early years of my legal career, my senior’s second son was Sitaram’s classmate. They were close friends, and that’s how I first met him.
Over time, we became good acquaintances, often meeting in Delhi during that period. I also got to know Seema Chisti, Sitaram’s wife, around that time.
Back then, Sitaram was very active in university politics in Delhi, while I had little involvement in politics myself. However, this difference never hindered our interactions.
In the 1980s, I met many individuals in Delhi who are now prominent figures in Indian politics.
Interestingly, I’ve met Sitaram more frequently after my retirement. However, in the past six months, we had planned to meet several times, but it never materialized.
We had hoped to meet during the Lok Sabha elections, but when I was in Delhi, he became busy with election work, and we couldn’t find the time.
Just last month, I called him while I was in Delhi, intending to meet. Unfortunately, he was in Kerala at the time.
One memorable instance of our missed meetings was on 12 January, 2018.
We had planned to have dinner at my house that evening. However, earlier that day, I held a press conference regarding the functioning of the Supreme Court. Afterward, I received an unexpected visit from CPI leader D. Raja. It was a casual, unplanned meeting, but the media portrayed it as a conspiracy against the government.
When the situation blew up, Sitaram called me. He said, “I’m canceling the dinner. They’ve already made many assumptions about Raja’s visit. If I come, it will only confirm their suspicions.”
Sitaram was an idealist, deeply committed to communist ideology. Unlike many politicians, despite his proximity to businesses and power structures, he led a simple life. He never exploited anyone or anything.
He was one of the few principled politicians I’ve known, living true to his communist values.
(Justice J Chelameswar is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.)
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
