Prakash Karat re-elected CPI(M) General Secretary

Coimbatore, Apr 3 (UNI) Senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat was today re-elected as the General Secretary of the CPI(M) at the concluding session of the 19th Congress of the party, even as veteran leaders Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu were relieved from the politburo.

This followed requests from the two veteran leaders, stalwarts of Communist movement in the country, that they be relieved from the Politburo in view of their age factor.

Both Mr Surjeet and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu did not attend the 19th Party Congress which concluded here today.

On the concluding session here, the 87-member Central Committee reelected Mr Karat for a second term and also elected a 15-member new Politbureou which included three new faces--Messrs Balakrishnan, Amin and Sen.

While agreeing to relieve Mr Surjeet, the CPI(M) Congress, however, requested Mr Basu to represent the Politbureou as a special invitee.

(Eds : Pick up suitably from earlier series).

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