Left unity, combating communal forces on Yechury radar

Immediately after his elevation, Yechury (62) set out two major tasks ­— to work for the unity of Left and democratic forces and fight against “communal” agenda of Hindutva forces.

Yechury takes over from Prakash Karat, whose nine-year stint saw CPI-M’s fortunes dwindle both in the Lok Sabha from 44 seats in 2004 to nine in 2014 and also in West Bengal, where the party was routed by Trinamool Congress in 2011 Assembly elections, ending the Left’s 34-year rule in the state. 

Yechury was unanimously elected to the top post at the party’s 21st national congress, which concluded on Sunday. He is the fifth person to hold the post. His predecessors were P Sunderayya, EMS Namboodripad, Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Karat. Yechury’s rise in the party is credited to his mentor, Surjeet.

Yechury has played a critical role in talks with the government on the Indo-US nuclear deal, which made Left parties withdraw support to the UPA-1 government in July 2008. 

There are analysts who feel that the Left parties, including the CPI(M), pushed themselves to corner from where it has not been able to recover in successive elections.  Recently, Yechury was responsible for mobilising the entire opposition get an amendment to President’s address passed in the Rajya Sabha, embarrassing the Narendra Modi government. 

Yechury’s name for the post was proposed by Karat and seconded by S Ramachandran Pillai, also a frontrunner for the post. The party also elected 91 members of its central committee and a 16-member politburo. 

Yechury had joined the Students Federation of India (SFI) in 1974 and became a member of the party in 1975.

Addressing the CPI(M) meet after his elevation, Yechury said one of the immediate tasks before the party was the fight against “communal agenda of Hindutva forces” and Modi government’s policies. 

Castigating the “communal agenda, neo-liberal policies and move towards dismantling democratic pillars” of the Modi government, he said the party has to effectively combat the three forces, lest it would become “Trishul” and pierce into the heart of the nation.