Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of CPI(M), Passes Away at 72

Veteran politician and the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury has passed away. He breathed his last at the age of 72. Sitaram Yechury was admitted to the ICU of AIIMS in Delhi. The CPI(M) had said in a statement on Tuesday that 72-year-old Yechury was treated in the ICU of AIIMS, he was suffering from an acute respiratory tract infection.

CPI(M) leader Yechury was admitted to the emergency department of AIIMS on August 19 after complaining of a high fever. He was admitted to the hospital due to pneumonia and there was nothing serious. The CPI(M) leader had recently undergone cataract surgery.

Sitaram Yechury was born on 12 August 1952 in Madras (Chennai) in a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family. His father Sarveshwar Somayajula Yechury was an engineer in the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation. His mother Kalpakam Yechury was a government official.

Sitaram Yechury attended President's Estate School, New Delhi and secured the All India First Rank in the Central Board of Secondary Education Higher Secondary Examination. He then studied BA (Hons) in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi and then MA Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was arrested during the Emergency while he was a student at JNU.