Headlines
Sitaram Yechury: Suave, soft-spoken and dynamic (Profile)
By Mohammed Shafeeq
Hyderabad, April 19
Sitaram Yechury, who has
been elected the new general secretary of the Communist Party of
India-Marxist, has been the most prominent face of the party for
decades.
Suave and soft-spoken, he has been associated with the
Communist movement since his student days and now at the age of 62 faces
the onerous task of rebuilding the party.
Popularly known as SRY
among his supporters, Yechury is a dynamic leader and is considered the
young face of the leading communist party. He is also known for his
skills in reaching out to people both within and outside the party.
Currently
a member of the Rajya Sabha, Yechury has been a member of the CPI-M's
Central Committee since 1984 and the politburo since 1992.
A
politician, economist, writer and columnist, Yechury is known for his
good communication skills and is seen by many in the party as someone
who could strengthen the party, facing a crisis with a series of
electoral reverses.
Born on August 12, 1952 in a Telugu family in
then Madras, Yechury did his schooling mostly in Andhra Pradesh. He
stood first in the CBSE higher secondary examination. He graduated from
St Stephen's College, Delhi in Economics (Hons) and did M.A. in
economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. He discontinued
his Ph.D due to his arrest during the Emergency.
Yechury, whose
father S.S. Yechury was an employee in the Road Transport Corporation,
was influenced by the communist movement during his student days. He
joined the Student Federation of India (SFI) in 1974.
The young
leader was arrested for opposing internal emergency in 1975. He was
later elected the president of JNU's students union.
In 1978, he became the national joint secretary of SFI and went on to become the national president of the student's body.
In
1984, he was invited to the Central Committee of the CPI-M and the next
year elected to the top decision making body of the party.
Yechury
was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2005. He served on various
parliamentary committees and was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2011.
The communist leader has been playing a key role in rallying the opposition, which has a majority in the upper house.
Yechury
is the author of books like "Left Hand Drive", "What is this Hindu
Rashtra", "Socialism in 21st Century", "Communalism vs Secularism" and
"Ghrina Ki Rajniti" (Hindi).
Married to journalist Seema Chisti, Yechury has a daughter and two sons from his first marriage.
A
sports enthusiast, he was captain of the lawn tennis team in the
university. Reading, writing and listening to music are his favourite
hobbies.
(Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at [email protected])