Amid chants of 'Lal Salaam', Sitaram Yechury's body handed over to AIIMS for medical research

Sitaram Yechury. Pic/PTI

Wrapped in the red flag of the CPI(M), party veteran Sitaram Yechury's body was donated to the AIIMS authorities here on Saturday for medical research amid chants of "Lal Salaam". Earlier in the day, rich tributes were paid to Yechury at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) headquarters at the AKG Bhavan here, where his mortal remains were brought from his residence in the morning.

Wrapped in the CPI(M) flag, Yechury's mortal remains were kept at the party office, where party leaders, including politburo members Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, Pinarayi Vijayan and M A Baby, paid their tributes to the departed leader. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi also reached the AKG Bhavan, along with her party colleagues Jairam Ramesh, Rajeev Shukla and others, to pay her last respects to Yechury.

NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar, Sachin Pilot, Ramesh Chennithala, DMK leaders Udhayanidhi Stalin, T R Baalu, Dayanidhi Maran, RJD MP Manoj Jha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Gopal Rai, CPI general secretary D Raja and party leader Annie Raja, and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya were among those who paid their last respects to Yechury.

Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Hai, Palestinian Ambassador Adnan Abu Alhaija, former prime minister of Nepal Madhav Kumar Nepal, former chief information commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah and eminent historian Romila Thapar also paid their last respects to the veteran leader. Hundreds of supporters, party leaders and members of the organisation gathered at the AKG Bhavan. A march was organised while Yechury's body was being taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to be donated for medical research.

His family members were in the ambulance carrying the body, while CPI(M) leaders and supporters marched from the party office to Jantar Mantar. The CPI(M) general secretary died on Thursday at a hospital here after battling a lung infection. Yechury (72) was in a critical condition for the last few days and on respiratory support while undergoing treatment for an acute respiratory tract infection at the ICU of the AIIMS. He was admitted to the hospital on August 19.

On Friday, Yechury's body was taken to his alma mater, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), from the AIIMS. Hundreds of students and faculty members paid their last respects to the Communist leader at the university. As a student at the JNU, Yechury was a part of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), which he joined in 1974 and was arrested a few months later during Emergency. He served as the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) thrice during 1977-78.

Later, Yechury's body was taken to his residence, where senior CPI(M) leaders paid tributes to their comrade. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda had also paid his last respects to Yechury at his residence on Friday evening. Yechury is survived by his wife Seema Chishti and two children -- Akhila and Danish. His elder son, Ashish Yechury, died of COVID-19 in 2021. Yechury was earlier married to Indrani Mazumdar.

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