Yechury’s re-election as CPI(M) chief good sign for Opposition unity

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) re-elected Comrade Sitaram Yechury as its General Secretary on Sunday, at the party's 22nd Congress in Hyderabad. This is the second victory for Yechury in a week after the CPI(M) endorsed his political-tactical line of an 'understanding’ with the Congress for the 2019 General Elections, putting an end to the ongoing tussle between the Yechury and Prakash Karat factions on the issue.

Earlier, it was reported by a section of media that the Karat camp was planning to project former Tripura CM Manik Sarkar as a candidate against Yechury. However, that plan could not garner enough support. Reportedly, Sarkar himself declined to contest against Yechury.

Sitaram Yechury has been re-elected unopposed for the next three years. CPI(M) allows for a maximum of two terms to its general secretaries.65-year-old Yechury had first taken over as general secretary from Karat in the Visakhapatnam Congress in 2015.

After his re-election, Yechury said significantly, “We had a momentous Congress, detailed discussions and we have taken important decisions in this Congress. If any message that should go to rank and file and our class enemy, it is that CPI(M) has emerged as a united party. The main task today is to defeat this BJP government and for that all necessary measures will be undertaken.”

The CPI(M) also elected a 95-member Central Committee and a 17-member new Politburo at its party Congress.

According to a Delhi-based CPI(M) watcher, Yechury's re-election is very significant as it will decide the fate of Left politics in the country. The Left has been struggling with several electoral defeats in recent years.

This article was updated at 4.23 pm on April 22, 2018 to add the quote by Sitaram Yechury