Kerala chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has dismissed the likelihood of the party agreeing to designate party general secretary, Sitaram Yechury from West Bengal with the support of the Congress, even as the Central Committee, the top decision-making body of the CPI(M), discusses a third Rajya Sabha term for Yechury.
“Accepting the Congress support to send our party general secretary to the Rajya Sabha would be against and not in accordance with the political stand we have been adopting,” Vijayan told The Indian Express. Vijayan also highlighted that Yechury, being the general secretary, would not be able to do justice to his role as a parliamentarian since his party responsibility includes traveling across the nation.
“From my experience, I can tell you, a party general secretary naturally cannot take care of the responsibilities of a parliamentarian. Because he (being a general secretary) has to run across the country to play his role. Those who are seeking his presence in Rajya Sabha want it so because he is efficient. It is true that he is efficient, but he cannot compromise on his other role,” he reasoned. The “party does not want him to make any compromise on his role as a general secretary,” he added.
Yechury was designated as the CPI(M) general secretary in 2015. When asked Yechury’s presence in the house is essential at a time when the Opposition should be unified against BJP, he said, “The CPI(M) had to back the Congress at a time when the country faced misery. We had to avert that danger and the CPI(M) decided to support the Congress-led UPA.”
“However, we know what happened and we know what kind of a stand the Congress had adopted. It was the anti-people stance of the Congress that had led to the emergence of BJP into power. We are not ready to have any kind of political alliance or friendship with such a party. Accepting the Congress support to send our party general secretary to the Rajya Sabha would be against and not in accordance with the political stand we have been adopting,” the Kerala CM said.
Vijayan’s remark comes when the party’s top leadership is set to take a final call. Yechury’s term is to end on 18 August.
