Yechury: Looking back with emotion

Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien said his daughter thought he had started resembling Yechury

The farewell of Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury in the Rajya Sabha led to several emotional moments. Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav became emotional as he spoke about Yechury. The two sat in one of the front rows of the Upper House for many years. Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien, who looked up to Yechury as a mentor when he was a newcomer to the Rajya Sabha some years back, said his daughter thought he had started resembling Yechury even though he dyed his hair. Jairam Ramesh of the Congress said Yechury and he were associated with the drafting of the Common Minimum Programme of the United Front government of 1996 and the first term of the United Progressive Alliance in 2004. Given the fate of the two governments, Ramesh said, he had started calling Yechury “Sitaram obituary”. Yechury said he in turn called the Congress leader “Jairam mortuary” because the country would be in the mortuary if policies suggested by Ramesh were pursued.