Post-Yechury's death, CPM elects Prakash Karat as interim coordinator of Polit Bureau, central committee

New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has decided to appoint senior leader Prakash Karat as interim coordinator of the Polit Bureau  and the central committee. The party central committee which is in session in New Delhi took this decision in the wake of the incumbent national general secretary Sitaram Yechury's death.  

In a press release issued on Sunday, CPM announced that Karat will continue as coordinator of the Polit Bureau and central committee until the commencement of the 24th party congress.CPM has scheduled its party congress in April 2025 at Madurai. The new general secretary will be elected at the party congress.

"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.

Karat, one of the seniormost leaders of the CPI(M), was its general secretary from 2005 to 2015. He was elected to the Central Committee in 1985 and became a Polit Bureau member in 1992.
The Polit Bureau is the key decision-making wing of the party.

Sitaram Yechury (72) passed away on September 12 while undergoing treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. He was treated for an acute respiratory tract infection at the intensive care unit.