Pragmatic Marxist Yechury needs to attract youth, middle class

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Visakhapatnam, April 19

A strong ideological grounding, coupled with a liberal and pragmatic approach to alliance building, has been the hallmark of the political career of Sitaram Yechury who took over the reins of CPM today.

Yechury, the 62-year-old Rajya Sabha member who was unanimously elected as the new general secretary, faces a plethora of challenges. The chief among them is to attract the youth, particularly the post-liberalisation generation, into the party whose main agenda is to fight neo-liberal economic policies.

The most visible and popular face of the Marxist party on television, Yechury has an unenviable task of establishing an enduring connect with the aspirational middle class, a section which is perceived to be out of the ambit of the Left influence so far.

Unlike his dogmatic and orthodox party colleagues, Yechury, who was inducted into the politburo in 1992, is regarded as a more flexible and liberal Marxist, willing to re-orient political strategies in tune with the changing times.

Suave and articulate, Yechury, an alumnus of St Stephens College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, had played a key role during the UPA-I regime which was supported by Left parties and served as a bridge between the Congress and the Left.

However, from the position of a kingmaker in 2004 to a marginal player now, the CPM's decline has been a matter of concern for the party leadership. As the new general secretary, Yechury faces the challenge of revitalising the party and expanding its social base.

"There is a strong perception in the party that Yechury is the right choice in the present situation. He can attract the youth and expand the party to new areas," said one of the delegates from Kerala attending the six-day party congress.

Born on August 12, 1952 in a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family in Chennai, Yechury did the major part of his schooling from Presidents Estate School, New Delhi, and then joined St Stephen's College for BA (Hons) in Economics. In 1975, he completed his MA in Economics from JNU.