'Sitaram Yechury was born in Madras, had special bond with city'

CHENNAI: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury who passed away has a special connection with Tamil Nadu as he was born in the then Madras Presidency on August 12, 1952.

The CPM leader enjoyed good rapport with political leaders of a broad spectrum in the State, including late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, Chief Minister MK Stalin and various party leaders from the state.

“Yechury’s grandfather was a judge in Madras High Court. He was born at the government maternity hospital at Triplicane in 1952. After the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, his family moved to the neighbouring state from the then Madras State,” CPM politburo member G Ramakrishnan said.

As a member of the CPM’s politburo, Yechury was in charge of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Marxist party from 2012 to 2015. Whenever he addressed a public rally in Tamil Nadu, he would start his speech in Tamil and apologise to cadres over his inability to continue the speech fluently in Tamil before switching to English.

“He spoke English, Telugu and Hindi fluently and knew several other Indian languages,” Ramakrishnan added. If Yehcury was alive, he would have presented the political report at the party's 24th conference to be held in Madurai in April 2024, he noted.

Yechury had written about his relationship with the late Chief Minister Karunanidhi after his demise in 2018. He recalled his association with Kalaignar during the United Front Government at the centre in the late 1990s and the United Progressive Alliance formation in 2004. Karunanidhi had invited Yechury as one of the speakers at the World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore in 2010 and how he was airlifted from Chennai to Coimbatore in the CM’s helicopter.

“The very fact that the Tamil language continues to develop and thrive, unlike other classical languages in the world like Latin, is because it had maintained its liveliness by being constantly among the people and common to the entire people,” he spoke at the conference under the topic 'Language As Unifying Force'.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday condoled the demise of veteran Marxist leader and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury who passed away due to illness in New Delhi.

In his condolence message posted on X, Stalin said, “Deeply shocked and saddened by the demise of comrade Sitaram Yechury, a stalwart of the Left movement and a towering figure in Indian politics. Comrade Sitaram Yechury was a fearless leader whose commitment to justice was evident from a young age, as he courageously stood against the Emergency as a student leader.”

Stalin appreciated his dedication to the cause of the working class, secularism, social justice, equality, and progressive values. “His distinguished career will continue to inspire future generations. I will always cherish the insightful interactions I had with him. My heartfelt condolences to his family and comrades. Red Salute, Comrade,” Stalin added. Sports minister Udhayanidhi and other leaders also mourned the death of the CPM veteran.