Sitaram Yechury is new CPM general secretary

The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday elected Sitaram Yechury as the new general secretary of the party. At the meeting of the Central Committee, outgoing general secretary Prakash Karat proposed Yechury's name and SR Pillai seconded it. Sitaram Yechury is the fifth general secretary of the 50-year-old party. Yechury replaces Prakash Karat who has stepped down after three terms. "The Central Committee unanimously chose Sitaram Yechury as our new general secretary," Prakash Karat said. Addressing the CPI(M) meet here, Yechury, after getting elected as the general secretary, said this is the congress of future, future of our party and our country. "Our task is to strengthen unity of Left and democratic forces. The unmistakable conclusion of this congress is that the crisis in capitalism continues to deepen in the world. There is no alternative except to strengthen the struggle for socialism. If there is any future for human civilisation, that future lies in socialism," the 62-year-old CPM leader said.

The four new politburo members are Mohammed Saleem, Subhashini Ali, Hannan Mollah and G. Ramakrishnan. Subhashini Ali is the second woman in the politburo after Brinda Karat. The politburo members are Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, S. Ramchandran Pillai, Biman Basu, Manik Sarkar, Pinyarayi Vijayan, B.V. Raghavulu, K. Balakrishnan, M.A. Baby, S.K. Mishra, A.K. Padmanabhan, Mohammed Saleem, Subhashini Ali, Hannan Mollah and G. Ramakrishnan. Earlier, the Congress elected the new CC. It approved the names finalized by the outgoing politburo on Saturday night. This was followed by the election of the new politburo and the general secretary by the CC. Apart from 91 members, the CC has five special invitees and five permanent invitees. Central Committee unanimously chose Sitaram Yechury as our new General Secretary: Prakash Karat (CPI-M) Sitaram Yechury's journey: From an activist to CPM general secretary One of the most recognizable faces of the CPM, Sitaram Yechury has the image of being a pragmatic leader unlike his predecessor Prakash Karat, who was a stickler to dogma. An outstanding student, 62-year-old Politburo member has emerged as a leader with considerable skills of political negotiations who has friends across the spectrum. Yechury, who was elected as the CPM general secretary at the party's 21st Congress in Visakhapatnam today, is cast much in the mould of the late party leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet. Yechury had learnt the ropes under Surjeet, who had played major roles in the coalition era governance first during the National Front government of VP Singh and the United Front government of 1996-97, both of which the CPM had supported from outside.

Yechury further honed his skills when the Left parties backed the first UPA government often putting pressure on the Congress-led regime in policy-making. He had also played a critical role in the talks with the government on the Indo-US nuclear deal that led to the Left parties withdrawing support to the UPA-I government because of Karat's stubborn stand. There are analysts who feel that the Left parties including the CPM pushed themselves into a corner, from which it has not been able to recover in successive elections. Yechury, who joined the Students Federation of India (SFI) in 1974 and became a member of the party the very next year, was arrested a few months later during the Emergency. 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, Mr 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, Mr 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, Mr 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, Mr 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 MA in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. He discontinued his PhD due to his arrest during the Emergency. Mr Yechury, whose father SS 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. Mr 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. Mr 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, Mr 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.Story First Published: April 19, 2015 14:13 IST