The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has rejected the proposal of the West Bengal State Committee to offer party general secretary Sitaram Yechury a third term in the Rajya Sabha and asked the Bengal unit to either pick an Independent candidate acceptable to the entire Opposition there or go it alone in the Rajya Sabha election.
At the Central Committee, there was almost a 50:30 vote against a third term for Mr. Yechury. Voting became necessary when the Central Committee members from Bengal insisted on a division. The CPI(M) Polit Bureau had, on June 7, decided that Mr. Yechury should not contest for a third time, in keeping with the party convention.
The Bengal State Committee had wanted an exception for Mr. Yechury, given the Congress offer of support . The Kerala group was, however, in favour of continuing with the convention and full compliance with the 21st CPI(M) Party Congress decision against any understanding with the Congress.
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Mr. Yechury told presspersons: “The CPI(M) had fixed a two-term norm to ensure a flow of leadership. Our principles are more important for us.”