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CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Thursday following prolonged illness, hospital and party sources said. He was 72.

Yechury had been in a critical condition for the last few days and was on respiratory support. The veteran leader died at 3.05 pm, sources said.

The CPI(M) had said earlier that the 72-year-old leader was being treated for an acute respiratory tract infection at the ICU in AIIMS, Delhi.

Yechury was admitted to the hospital on August 19 for treatment of a pneumonia-like chest infection.

He was critical and on oxygen support. The sources said he had a fungal infection in his lungs.

The leader, who started from the student union of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as a member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and went on to become a member of the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1984, got elected to the Politburo in 1992.

He served as a Rajya Sabha MP for 12 years, from 2005 to 2017. He became the fifth general secretary of the CPI(M) at the 21st party congress in Visakhapatnam on April 19, 2015, and took over from Prakash Karat.

He also played a significant role in the joint opposition’s INDIA bloc. He was seen among the political mentors of Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.