Sitaram Yechury elected as new CPM general secretary

Visakhapatnam, April 19: The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday elected Sitaram Yechury as the new general secretary of the party.

At the meeting of the Central Committee, outgoing general secretary Prakash Karat proposed Yechury's name and S.R. Pillai seconded it.

Pillai was also the frontrunner for the post but he withdrew his nomination after he failed to garner the support.

The party's new central committee has 91 members besides five special invitees and five permanent invitees.

Yechury is the fifth general secretary of the 50-year-old party. He replaces Prakash Karat who has stepped down after three terms.

Karat later made the formal announcement before the media. Yechury also introduced a 16-member politburo.

OneIndia News

(With agency inputs)