Sitaram Yechury Elected As New CP I(M) General Secretary

19 April, Visakhapatnam

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) elected senior politburo member Sitaram Yechury as the new General Secretary replacing Prakash Karat who has completed his three terms as the Party General Secretary.

The official decision of the leadership change in the CPI (M) was taken on the last day of the six-day party congress meet held in Visakhapatnam Sunday .

The names were recommended by the Party’s politburo to the new Central Committee on Saturday night and the outgoing Central Committee gave a go ahead for the names to the incoming Central Committee, which was placed before the Congress, who took the final call.

The front-runners for taking the top spot of the party were Sitaram Yechury and S Ramachandran Pillai but with Pillai deciding to withdraw from the race, Yechury was elected unanimously having support from the leaders of West Bengal that he represents in the Rajya Sabha.

Speaking on the occasion Sitaram Yechury has called upon the party leaders to combat the twin challenges of economic exploitation and social oppression, which were affecting all aspects of social and political spheres on the country.
The CPI (M) general secretary described the task entrusted to him as onerous and a great responsibility and said he had been elected to the top post at a very challenging time for the Party as well as the nation. He also said that Land Bill will put greater stress on farmers.