After Yechury’s demise, crucial meeting of CPI-M to pick new general secretary

Thiruvananthapuram: For the CPI-M, Friday is crucial as the party will elect its new general secretary after the demise of Sitaram Yechury.

It is the first time since the party’s inception in 1964 that a general secretary has passed away while in office. The role of the general secretary is crucial as the 24th Party Congress, to be held in April next year, will elect a new set of office-bearers

Hence, the politburo will have to zero down on its immediate successor to Yechury.

Though Yechury’s predecessor Prakash Karat is a Keralite, it was the legendary EMS Nampoothiripad who was elected in 1978 as the general secretary, a post that he held till 1992, was regarded as the ‘Keralite’ to have held the topmost post for long.

Presently from Kerala, the politburo includes Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, M.A. Baby, A. Vijayaraghavan and M.V. Govindan. With Kerala the last bastion of the party, which has a state government in place, it could well be an advantage and a disadvantage too, for the successor to Yechury to come from the state.

The advantage is at the moment with Kerala as it appears to have an edge in the party with a good number in the Central Committee too.

However, the disadvantage is the Vijayan government is passing through difficult times with a series of alleged scams. Also, the national leadership of the party is not happy with the way CM Vijayan has been controlling the state unit.

A source said according to the party constitution, the role of the general secretary is very crucial ahead of the Party Congress.

“A lot of work is on the general secretary to ensure that the proceedings of the Party Congress take place in the most disciplined manner and with the party now wiped out in West Bengal and Tripura, the coming years are very crucial for the party as Kerala goes to the polls in 2026. Hence the collective wisdom of the politburo when it meets today is very crucial,” said the source who did not wish to be identified and added that this is the first time the party is in such a position.