Following the passing of Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, a senior leader of CPI(M), has been appointed as the party’s coordinator. Karat will oversee the Central Committee and Polit Bureau until the next party congress in April 2025.
New Delhi: Following the passing of CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, former general secretary Prakash Karat has been appointed as the party's coordinator. In this role, Karat will oversee the central committee and politburo until the next party congress. The decision was made during a central committee meeting in Delhi.
Under Karat's leadership, the CPM politburo has decided to allocate joint responsibilities to its members, with a focus on central operations. Karat, who served as CPM general secretary from 2005 to 2015, has been a key figure in the party, having been elected to the central committee in 1985 and joining the politburo in 1992.
"The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), now in session in New Delhi, has decided that Comrade Prakash Karat will be the coordinator of the Polit Bureau and the Central Committee, as an interim arrangement until the 24th Party Congress to be held in April 2025 at Madurai," the CPM said.
"This decision was taken due to the sad and sudden demise of the sitting General Secretary of the CPI(M), Comrade Sitaram Yechury," it added.
A new general secretary for the CPM will be elected during the upcoming party congress in April, which is set to take place in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Until then, a temporary body comprising politburo members will manage the party’s day-to-day affairs and handle organisational preparations for the congress, with Prakash Karat overseeing these responsibilities.
Preliminary discussions on the draft political resolution and organisational documents, which will be presented at the party congress, are expected to take place during central committee meetings scheduled for Sunday and Monday.
Prakash Karat, one of the CPI(M)'s most senior leaders, served as the party's general secretary from 2005 to 2015. He joined the Central Committee in 1985 and became a member of the Polit Bureau in 1992, the party’s top decision-making body.
Sitaram Yechury, aged 72, passed away on September 12 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, where he was receiving treatment in the ICU for an acute respiratory tract infection.