As the CPI(M)’s 21st congress is beginning at Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, the most crucial question being asked is whom the party will elect as its next general secretary when incumbent Prakash Karat steps down on April 19 after completing three full terms. Politbureau (PB) member Sitaram Yechury is said to be the favourite but it has already become clear that his ascent to the position may not be smooth.
A move is already on under the loyalists of Karat to somehow install PB member S Ramachandran Pillai, known simply as SRP in party circles, as his successor at AKG Bhavan, the CPI(M)’s national headquarters in Delhi, with the support of a huge section of the Kerala party, if insiders are to be believed.
Those who are behind this move know well that their efforts may face defeated in the normal course and therefore the ploy adopted is said to be that SRP’s name would be proposed for the post for a single term of three years. The theory acquires credence in the context of SRP’s own announcement to a TV channel recently that his wish was to retire after three years.
Those who support SRP for the top job argue that Yechury should continue with his parliamentary assignment as the party’s Rajya Sabha member. They also raise the question how a leader can simultaneously hold a party a top party post and a parliamentary position but this is not unheard of in the CPI(M).
The biggest stumbling block for Yechury’s smooth ascent to the general secretary’s post is his difference of opinion with Karat on almost all party affairs. These differences are not at all personal for Yechury but the curious developments in the party, particularly since its debacle in the 2014 lok Sabha election, has given them an extra-organizational look to them, insiders say.
Without making references to the rumours of a behind-the-screen contest for the top post, Yechury told newsmen on Monday that he would take up any responsibility the party gave him. “All through my life I have accepted all responsibilities the party has given me. We are communists. We don’t look for positions,” he said.
Though SRP had become a PB member in the same year as Yechury, the main factor working against him in the race for the top post is his lack of popularity among the party units in other states than Kerala. “He is known merely as a party centre man and, in fact, there has been no serious effort from his part to go beyond that,” admitted a former central committee member.
Yechury’s weakness is the lack of acceptability in the Kerala party, presently the strongest unit of the CPI(M) in entire India. A strong section in the Kerala unit, led by former State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, is against Yechury becoming the party boss for the simple reason that he is a supporter of his fiercest enemy, central committee member VS Achuthanandan.
However, sources in the Kerala unit say that there is no unanimity in the opposition to Yechury. New State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, despite his close relationship with Pinarayi, is said to be impartial in the matter. Still, he is expected to take a stand which would not be in contrast with that of the Pinarayi camp if a decisive situation comes up.
“It is a fact that Yechury is perhaps the most popular face of the CPI(M) nationally and internationally. But that is not enough in today’s CPI(M). The party has changed a lot and personal preferences of leaders have special importance now. This aspect cannot be kept away from the election of a new general secretary,” said the former CC member.