As Prakash Karat returns as CPM’s interim leader, what is next for the party

There is also massive turbulence in the party’s Kerala unit which needs to be managed. “The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)..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,” read the CPI(M) statement.

Yechury’s unexpected demise has brought a new set of problems for the CPI(M), which was expected to go for a major generational change at its Madurai conclave. At its last conclave in Kannur, Kerala, in 2022, the party fixed 75 as the age limit for members of the central committee and politburo.

The party was to implement the new rule at the Madurai session, meaning it would have led to the exit of veterans Karat, Brinda Karat, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Surjya Kanta Mishra, Subhashini Ali, and Manik Sarkar from the Central Committee and Politburo. In one stroke, its experienced Delhi leaders would have made way for new faces in the top decision-making bodies. Yechury was in his third term as general secretary.

According to the CPM constitution, “no person can hold the position of the General Secretary for more than three full terms” but in a “special situation”, it says, “a person who has completed three full terms as General Secretary may be re-elected for a fourth term provided it is so decided by the Central Committee with a three-fourth majority”.

Why Yechury mattered

Yechury was 72 and even if he had stepped down as general secretary — that is if the party were not to invoke the special situation — he would have continued as a member of the Central Committee and Politburo and could have mentored his successor in dealing with allies and running the day-to-day affairs of the party.

Yechury had the stature and heft to deal with leaders of all ages, from Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge and M K Stalin to Rahul Gandhi to Tejashwi Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. At a memorial meeting held for Yechury on Saturday, leader after leader of the INDIA bloc recalled the role played by the late CPI(M) general secretary in the formation of the alliance and his remarkable ability to iron out differences, sort out issues, and find common ground among the parties.

He had excellent personal equations with leaders cutting across party lines. “The CPM functionally will find a new general secretary but we will not be able to find a Sitaram,” RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha said at the condolence meeting Saturday.

With his demise, the CPI(M) that always punched above its weight in national politics will miss a leader who could deal with allies like equals. It is not clear whether the party will now make some exemption while applying the “75 years” rule next year. At its last conclave, the party dropped veterans such as S Ramachandran Pillai, Hannan Mollah, and Biman Basu from the Politburo, applying the age criteria while giving an exemption to Vijayan.

Who will succeed Yechury?

The big question now is who will succeed Yechury as the full-time general secretary. A section feels the party should elect someone who is under the age of 75 as general secretary while retaining a couple of leaders who have crossed 75 to ensure continuity in the absence of Yechury.

Another section feels someone like Brinda Karat should be elected general secretary, given her stature. “The Party Congress can take a call on giving exemption to a leader,” a leader said. Like Yechury, Brinda Karat, who was a Rajya Sabha MP, also has a good rapport with Opposition leaders across party lines. Moreover, she is a prominent woman face of the party. The CPI(M) has never had a woman heading the party. Some leaders feel the post can go to either M A Baby or B V Raghavulu.