Agartala, Sep 13
CPI-M politburo member and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Thursday said that party stalwart Harkishan Singh Surjeet inspired and guided Sitaram Yechury to maintain a close relationship with the like-minded and secular parties to strengthen the democratic movement against the fascists and communal forces. Sarkar, who was the Chief Minister of Tripura for a record 20 years (1998 to 2018), said that Yechury until recently before his illness efficiently maintained an effective and positive association with all the non-Left secular and democratic-minded parties.

The CPI-M General Secretary after battling a severe lung infection at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi died on Thursday afternoon at the age of 72 years.

“In our party, Surjeet first initiated a rapport to maintain a relation with the like-minded and secular parties and he inspired and guided Yechury in this regard. Yechury performed the task very efficiently till he was physically fit,” the 75-year-old Left leader said in a video message.

He said not only in India, Yechury maintained very close relations with the Left parties of many countries. “He conducts many joint international events with the Left parties of various countries.”

Sarkar, who was also the CPI-M Tripura state Secretary for many years until 1998, said that Yechury was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two terms from 2005 to 2017 and he made his presence felt in the parliament.

He served as the leader of the CPI-M group and was an effective parliamentarian and he was given the best parliamentarian award in 2017, the former Tripura CM said.

“Yechury's death created a vacuum not among the Left circles but also in the entire secular and democratic political spectrum in the country. His untimely death is a severe blow to the Left and democratic movements in India,” a visibly shocked Sarkar said.

CPI-M Tripura state Secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said that Yechury along with other central leaders helped the people of the state and party in many ways.

“In every election and important party event during the past several decades, Yechury played a significant role in the Left democratic movement in Tripura,” he said in a video message.

Chaudhury, the state’s Leader of Opposition, said that Yechury on a number of occasions highlighted numerous Tripura issues in the parliament, outside the parliament and across the country.

Yechury played a significant role in the formation of the INDIA bloc at the national level and he also conducted a hectic campaign for many days during the last year’s assembly polls in Tripura.

The party flags would fly at half-mast in all the CPI-M party offices in Tripura for the next seven days marking respect to the deceased leader, Chaudhury announced.

Sitaram Yechury maintained effective rapport with like-minded parties: Manik Sarkar