Polit Bureau turns down proposal from Bengal unit

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau has shot down its West Bengal unit’s proposal to send party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury to Rajya Sabha.

The decision was taken on March 6 during a Polit Bureau meeting in Delhi, which was attended by only nine of the 17 members.

The West Bengal unit had informally proposed Mr Yechury’s name at the Central Committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram recently.

Mr Yechury was a Rajya Sabha member from 2005 till 2017. In 2017, the party refused to renominate him from West Bengal, though the Congress had offered the seat to the CPI(M). This is the third instance when the party has stalled his entry to Rajya Sabha.

Also read: Yechury not to seek third Rajya Sabha term

Currently, the Left parties put together have 28 seats in West Bengal Assembly. To send a candidate to Rajya Sabha 46 votes are needed.

If Mr Yechury was to be renominated, then the CPI(M) would have needed Congress support. A majority of Polit Bureau members argued that the party could not lean on the Congress.

With the retirement of T.K. Rangarajan, who was leading the party, in April this year, the party will be down to just four members in the Upper House. It only has one member in Lok Sabha. If a political party has less than five members, it’s members are treated as independents. This would also mean less time for its members to speak.