When Sitharam Yechury pushed Indira Gandhi to resign as JNU Chancellor — a look at this iconic image

Today, on September 12, 2024, Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury passed away after prolonged illness.

Yechury was, at the time of his death, the face of the CPI(M) party and had been so for the last few decades. He had dedicated 50 years to his political career.

However, one of the most notable and iconic moments from Yechury’s political life remains to be the protest he led as the president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) in 1977, which ultimately resulted in the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stepping down as Chancellor of the university.

This striking image from the late 1970s captures Yechury standing beside Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at her residence. In the photograph, he is seen presenting grievances and articulating the reasons why she should step down as Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

This march led by Yechury and his peers at the JNU secured Gandhi’s resignation in 1977 as the university’s chancellor and also became the backdrop to his emergence as a leading communist and political figure for years to come.

An alumnus of Delhi's St Stephen's College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Yechury started his political career with the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and joined the CPI(M) in 1975.