Sitaram Yechury Lives — In Every Struggle

It has been a year since Comrade Sitaram Yechury left us. But even today, we have not fully emerged from the deep void his departure created. His absence continues to echo in the movement, reminding us of the clarity, commitment, and revolutionary zeal he embodied.

Born into an upper-caste, privileged family, Comrade Yechury made a conscious and unwavering choice — to stand with the oppressed, the exploited, the silenced, and the working people of India. His life was an affirmation of the Marxist understanding that class and caste oppression are interlinked and must be fought together. He upheld the CPI(M)’s uncompromising vision that in India, the struggle against capitalism cannot be separated from the battle against caste hierarchy and social exclusion.

Comrade Yechury consistently reminded us of Comrade B.T. Ranadive’s repeated assertion: 

These words, charged with revolutionary urgency, were frequently quoted by Comrade Yechury — not as rhetoric, but as a call to action.

In the present, under the rule of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-controlled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government, India faces an unprecedented fascist threat. The Sangh Parivar’s long-standing project to dismantle the secular, pluralist foundations of India and replace it with a communal, majoritarian “Hindu Rashtra” is unfolding before our eyes. This is not merely a political deviation — it is a civilisational attack, rooted in Manusmriti and Hindutva ideology.

Comrade Yechury played a vital role in the ideological and political struggle against this fascist onslaught. With clinical precision, he exposed the real face of the RSS — its regressive, patriarchal, casteist agenda. He consistently called for building a platform of resistance and for defending secular, democratic, and leftist forces to oppose and defeat it. 

During the ideological crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist experiments in Eastern Europe, many Communist parties across the world faced disillusionment and retreat. But the CPI(M), guided by serious internal debate and ideological clarity, navigated that storm with determination. Comrades EMS Namboodiripad, Jyoti Basu, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, and M. Basavapunniah led the way. And among them, Comrade Yechury — then a young and dynamic comrade — was entrusted with co-authoring the draft ideological resolution that shaped the 14th Party Congress. 

It was a historic task. The resolution acknowledged the fall of the USSR, analysed its causes, and concluded that the defeat was not due to socialism itself, but to serious distortions and errors in the process of socialist construction. The failure to correct bureaucratic and structural deformities in time, and the refusal to engage in course-correction, were identified as key reasons for the collapse. 

Comrade Yechury’s presentation of this ideological resolution before the Party Congress, and his thorough engagement with the debates, marked his rise as a mature and disciplined Marxist leader of the Indian working class.

Following the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, with the BJP-led NDA defeated, the UPA government came to power. Comrade Yechury worked closely with Comrade Surjeet in coordinating Left support to the UPA, while defending the working class and ensuring policy safeguards. The Common Minimum Programme — the policy framework of the UPA — was shaped with the active participation of Comrade Yechury and P. Chidambaram. The experience he gained in that period deepened his political acumen, especially in building broad-based resistance to the communal right-wing.

Today, under the current regime, India is under siege by the neo-fascist forces of the Sangh Parivar. The 24th Party Congress of the CPI(M) has clearly identified the primary task: to build a broad and militant resistance against this authoritarian threat, and to expand the independent strength of the Party across the country.

As the only state in India today with a functioning Left Democratic Front government, Kerala stands as a beacon of hope — a living example that an alternative is possible. Under the leadership of Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has demonstrated that governance can be pro-people, secular, and development-oriented, even in the face of relentless attacks from the Union Government led by the BJP.

The upcoming local body and legislative elections in Kerala are critical. Defending and expanding the LDF’s presence is not just a state-level political objective — it is a national necessity. The sustained success of the LDF gives strength and confidence to the Left and democratic forces all over India. Comrade Yechury always stood firmly with the LDF, recognising its importance in the larger battle for socialism and democracy in India.

Elections in Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Assam, Puducherry, and Bihar will also play a crucial role in shaping India's political future. The defeat of BJP and the advance of Left and progressive forces must be our immediate political aim. To achieve this, the CPI(M)’s full strength — its over one million members — must be mobilised. All mass fronts must be energised. Our political struggles must be infused with cultural consciousness, creativity, and clarity.

In every sphere of this ongoing battle — ideological, political, and cultural — Comrade Yechury’s legacy will serve as a guiding light. His commitment, his sharp intellect, his tireless work, and his deep connection to the masses are the qualities we must carry forward.

Let us rise to the moment, inspired by the revolutionary life of Comrade Sitaram Yechury. Let us commit to the path he showed us — unwavering, uncompromising, and rooted in Marxist-Leninist thought — as we continue our historic mission: to overthrow exploitation, to end caste and communal oppression, and to build a socialist India.