Chennai: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s elder son Ashish died of Covid-19 today morning at a hospital in Gurgaon.
“It is with great sadness that I have to inform that I lost my elder son, Ashish Yechury to Covid-19 this morning. I want to thank all those who gave us hope and who treated him – doctors, nurses, frontline health workers, sanitation workers and innumerable others who stood by us,” Yechury tweeted.
Ashish, a journalist by profession who would have celebrated his 35th birthday on 9 June, was recovering at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital, reports said.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said, “We convey deepest condolences to Sitaram and Indrani, his wife Swati, his sister Akhila and all other members of the bereaved family.”
Asish was in ICU since 12 April after the infection spread to his lungs. He was recovering well at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital, people close to the family added.
They described his sudden death at 5.30 a.m. after a two-week battle with the disease as a shock.
Ashish, who studied at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, worked in several publications before moving to Pune.
Journalists who worked with him remembered him as a mild-mannered and warm professional who was knowledgeable and well read.