What now for Sitaram Yechury

New Delhi: With the central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM rejecting a proposal for a third Rajya Sabha term for Sitaram Yechury, he can now focus on his role as the general secretary of the party.

“The central committee has rejected the proposal for three reasons. As general secretary, I will have to spend more time within the party. It also goes against the party’s rule of not giving members more than two terms in the Rajya Sabha,” Yechury said, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday.

The party also didn’t want to take the support of Congress to elect Yechury for a third term in the Rajya Sabha. Yechury’s second term ends on 18 August. He is a two-time member from West Bengal. There are six Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal. The last date for nominations is 28 July.

The central committee, the highest decision making body of the party, which met earlier this week, also took a decision on the next party congress.

“The Central Committee decided to convene the 22nd Party Congress at Hyderabad, Telangana in April 2018,” said a statement released by the committee after the meeting.

The party congress is the highest decision making body of the CPM that meets every three years to discuss its political and organizational resolution along with electing new representatives to decision-making bodies, including the post of general secretary.

The last meeting held in Vishakhapatnam in 2015 elected Yechury as the fifth general secretary of the party. According to the rules of the party, a member can be elected as the general secretary for three terms.

Deciding on a road map for the coming months, the party has decided to hold protests across the country from 15-31 August to demand immediate loan waiver and implementation of a minimum support price for farmers.

The CPM, the largest party of the Left front, has seen a drastic fall in political representation in Parliament. The party now has only eight members (including Yechury) in Rajya Sabha and nine in Lok Sabha.