The CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has a Mysuru connection.
Though the leader has visited the city many times and addressed gatherings, it is for the fist time that he described himself as the “son-in-law of Mysuru”.
At a convention here on Sunday, Mr. Yechury said his mother-in-law Sumitra Bai was the first woman gold medallist in economics from the University of Mysore. “Her daughter is my wife and in a sense I am the son-in-law of Mysuru,” he said. The context was with reference to the diverse nature of India and its people and how individuals were free to practice their faith. “Sumitra Bai married a Sufi Muslim from U.P. and it is their daughter, who is married to me. I was born in the then Madras; my mother tongue is Telugu and I studied in Hyderabad, practised politics in Delhi, and was elected from Kolkata,” he said.
“So what will you make of me — an Andhrite, a Chennaite, a Delhiwallah or what will my son be called — a Hindu, Muslim or what?” he asked, while criticising “BJP’s attempts to impose uniformity.” The veteran leader also heaped praise on Mysuru.
“It had both cultural and communal amity and it is the place which was most progressive among the princely States. It is the place of Tipu Sultan, who fought against the British, and Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, who emphasised the importance of public sector and introduced reservation in jobs to promote social justice then,” said Mr. Yechury.
