Comrade whom even his opponents looked at with love; Pinarayi Vijayan condoles death of Sitaram Yechury

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condoled the death of CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury. He said that Sitaram is a person whom even his opponents have looked at with love. LDF convenor TP Ramakrishnan also paid homage to Yechury, referring to the party centre.

"The sad news of Sitaram Yechury's passing away has now come to light. He is a person who started his public work through his student life. Since then, Sitaram has become a public figure that the country has been observing. He was a communist leader who had good relations in every field. Even communist opponents looked at Sitaram with love. It is a very sad day for the party. Tributes to his memory, with a heavy heart."

What TP Ramakrishnan said:

Tributes to Comrade Sitaram Yechury on his demise. Yechury has been able to work with leaders like Comrade EMS, AKG, Surjit and Jyoti Basu in the leadership position of the CPM over various periods of time. Comrade Sitaram was able to take a stand on Marxism-Leninism to fulfil a historic task in the field of ideology under the tutelage of EMS.

He has often participated in several programmes of the party in Kerala. When he reaches Thiruvananthapuram, he stays at the AKG Centre. Yechury has tried to help the Left Democratic Front in Kerala and play a crucial role in its march ahead. The news of his death is extremely saddening. We are going to take a stand that his body will be handed over to AIIMS.

Senior Congress leader AK Antony also condoled Yechury's death. "Yechury's demise is a great loss to Indian politics," he said. "With Yechury's demise, we have lost a friend who was very close to me personally," he said.

"I had heard that Yechury's health was deteriorating. I used to ask his friends about his health on a daily basis. It was understood that things were going into danger for the last two to three days. His passing away is a huge loss to Indian politics," Antony said.