M.A. Baby reveals the only time when Sitaram Yechury overruled CPI(M)‘s diktat

Sitaram Yechury, the late former general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], was known to be a stickler for party discipline. He, however, often disobeyed the party’s diktat on only one thing: quitting smoking.

This was revealed by Yechury’s successor and the CPI(M)’s current general secretary M.A. Baby at an event in Kozhikode on Saturday (June 28, 2025), while releasing a book on his late comrade. “We have often urged Yechury to stop smoking. Brinda Karat had even got angry with him on the issue. The party polit bureau passed a resolution to this effect as well. Yechury, who otherwise stuck to party discipline, used his power as the general secretary to veto this,” Mr. Baby said in a lighter vein.

The CPI(M) leader also recalled how Yechury was planning to quit smoking during his final days at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. “His life partner, Seema Chishti, once asked us at the hospital why don’t your party tell him to stop this habit. We told her we have raised a similar demand multiple times. Hearing our conversation, Yechury said he would definitely quit smoking once he was out of the hospital. However, we could not see him keeping his promise,” Mr. Baby said.

Describing Yechury as a Marxist with a keen interest in multiple subjects, Mr. Baby said that he always tried to gain an in-depth knowledge in all of them. Yechury was never a “jack of all trades, but master of none.” “E.M.S. Namboodiripad was known for his vast knowledge on many subjects. But, he never took interest in things such as sports. Yechury was deeply interested in such subjects as well. I remember the morning conversations we have had after watching tennis legend Roger Federer’s late night matches,” he recalled.

Sitaram Yechury (1952-2024): Life and times in pictures

Mr. Baby released the book titled Adhunika Communist: Sitaram Yechuryude Jeevitha Katha (Modern Communist: The life story of Sitaram Yechury) by handing over a copy to author K.R. Meera. It has been edited by veteran journalist P.P. Aboobacker. Kozhikode Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafir Ahmed and writers N.P. Hafiz Mohammed and K.P. Ramanunni, among others, were present.