Main task to isolate and defeat BJP: Sitaram Yechury after re-election as CPM General Secretary

Kannur (Kerala): For a third consecutive term, Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury was re-elected as the General Secretary of the party in Kannur on Sunday. The party's decision came at the end of the 23rd Party Congress held here over the past five days.

Speaking to the delegates after being re-elected to the party's top post, Yechury said the chief task of the party was to isolate and defeat the BJP, which is pursuing the Hindutva communal agenda of the fascistic RSS.

At different sessions and during different meetings and press interviews on the sidelines of the Congress, Yechury has been heard hammering home the central theme of defeating the BJP at the national level, in co-operation with like-minded Opposition parties.

Known to take a broader stand regarding who all should be taken on board for the fight against BJP rule, Yechury is also perceived as not averse to including the Congress party in that alliance. He, however, has ruled out having any pre-poll alliance for the 2024 general election, and has tried to emphasise that post-poll alliances were more natural and practical as done in the past. He cited the instances of the two UPA governments, both of which were the products of post-poll understanding.

Yehury's stand regarding Congress is not seen sympathetically by the now all-powerful Kerala unit of the CPI-M, who are at the state-level in a bitter battle with the Congress, the flagship party in the state's opposition. In the immediate context, the SilverLine project or K-Rail, the semi-high speed rail corridor project stretching from the northern Kasargod to the capital Thiruvananthapuram at the southern end of the state, has become a prestige issue for both the CPI-M and the Congress who oppose it tooth and nail. The Congress is joined in this agitation by people and groups facing displacement due to land acquisition and myriad environment groups. The issue has only served to aggravate the enmity between the CPI-Md the Congress.

At a press meet on Monday, Yechury batted for K-Rail project saying that it is essential for the development of Kerala. Answering critics on why the CPI-M does not take a similar stand in support of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, Yechury said both projects are different, mainly in the compensation package.

As the core of the party's strategy in the future, he said isolation and defeat of the BJP was imperative not only for our forward march for human liberation but to safeguard India as a secular democratic republic. He stressed the importance of strengthening a secular front against the Hindutva philosophy of the BJP and its regime.

He also said that the CPM would be making efforts to strengthen the party in the HIndi belt and the northeastern states. It is significant the in Tripura, the party was in power for long and was thrown in the last state assembly election, also losing a large part of its leadership in defections to the BJP.

The Party Congress also selected 17-member Polit Buro and 85-member central committee to lead the party for next three years.

Senior leader from West Bengal, Ram Chandra Dome became the first Dali Polit Buro member when he was elevated to the PB from the central committee.

Two new faces - LDF convenor A Vijayaraghavan from Kerala and All India Kissan Sabha president Ashok Dhawle - have also been selected to the PB.

Meanwhile, senior leaders S Ramachandran Pillai, Biman Bose and Hannan Mollah were dropped from the PB as they crossed the upper age limit of 75 years. However, all three of them are now special invitees to the central committee.

Among the 85-member central committee, 17 are fresh faces, with 15 of them being women members.

State ministers K N Balagopal, P Rajeev, former MP C S Sujatha and Kerala women's commission chairperson P Sathidevi are the new entrants to the central committee from Kerala.

(With inputs from PTI)