The power equation within the CPI(M) has only marginally tilted in favour of party general secretary Sitaram Yechury , with the election of a new 17-member Polit Bureau and 95-member Central Committee making political manoeuvring during his next three-year term difficult for him.
Two new members were elected to the Polit Bureau, Tapan Sen, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, and Nilotpal Basu, CPI(M) central secretariat member.
Mr. Sen is known to be a hardliner and is expected to back former general secretary Prakash Karat. He was brought in place of A.K. Padmanabhan, who was dropped.
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Octogenarian S. Ramachandran Pillai, a Karat loyalist, was retained. Owing to his age, Mr. Pillai had made it clear that he would like to be relieved to return to Kerala. He was, however, persuaded to stay back.
According to sources, Mr. Yechury and a few others in the Central Committee, which elects the Polit Bureau, tried to push the names of Ashok Dhawale, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, for the Polit Bureau, but the move was stalled. Mr. Dhawale has been a keen supporter of the general secretary and was a key coordinator of the recent farmers’ agitation in Maharashtra.
In the Polit Bureau, Mr. Karat still holds the upper hand with 11 of his loyalists. There was no change in the representation of women and Muslims. There are two Muslims and two women members. There is still no Dalit member in a body that steers the daily agenda of the party.
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In the Central Committee, 19 new faces were included; a seat has been kept vacant to bring a woman member on board. “This is the first time we have changed 20% of the Central Committee members to bring in new faces. The average age of the panel has also come down from 70-71 to 65-66,” a Polit Bureau member said.
There was also demand to include Tamil Nadu’s T.K. Shanmugham on the panel. Presiding officer and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar asked the delegates to withdraw the demand.
Among the 19 new members, at least nine are reportedly sympathetic to Mr. Yechury. This will not make a significant difference and in case of a tug-of-war on any issue such as the one on political line, the general secretary’s side will find it tough to hold the ground.