Participants at a meeting in memory of the late CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury in Hyderabad on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT
About five decades ago, long before he emerged as the stalwart of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury was known for his flamboyance at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
“He was handsome, charming, flamboyant and most girls fell for him. He was very different – non-partisan and an inclusive leader. He was crucial in laying the foundation for democratising student politics and furthering the business of open debate in JNU. That is how I will remember Sita,” said Shanta Sinha, former chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, a JNU alumnus.
Remembering Mr. Yechury, Sita for many, here on Sunday were alumni from JNU who either hailed or have worked in the Telugu States.
For economist and former member of the Competition Commission of India, Geeta Gouri, the country lost Mr. Yechury at a crucial time, when the need of the hour is a coalition government, rather than “a static one with a dictatorial viewpoint on economics and political science”.
“Sita was warm and generous. He taught me about Left movements and how Delhi was, when I joined in ‘73,” she remembered.
Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Allahabad Rajan Harshe remembered Mr. Yechury as a polyglot, “who would speak better Sanskrit than any BJP MP”.
Mr. Harshe, who was on the same hostel floor as Mr. Yechury’s for two years at JNU, said that his sustaining the idea of India, “that India belongs to everyone and ‘We, the people of India’” will be a proud remembrance.
MLC Kodandaram, who attended JNU between 1978-80, recalled Mr. Yechury’s persuasive abilities to build alliances in the all-party meetings.
B.P. Acharya, Special Secretary who retired as Director, Dr. MCR HRD in 2020, shared his memories and paid tributes by showing a cartoon he made of him.
For an emotional CPI (M) leader Nellore Narasimha Rao, who carried the flowers and the portrait, Mr. Yechury was different in many ways. He shared his closeness, road journeys and campus life in JNU with Mr. Yechury. “He smoked under pressure. Cigarettes cost him his life. We won’t see another Yechury,” he said.
Other speakers at the memorial gathering were Arun Kumar Patnaik, Venkateswarlu, M. Venkat Srinivas Reddy, Madan Mohan Rao, Shyamala Devi, and Sudini Laxmi Reddy.
Published – September 15, 2024 11:23 pm IST
