Karat, 56, takes over from Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who offered to step down from the post.
CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat discuss his party's future, the coming battles in Bengal and Kerala, and the Maoists in an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Communist Party of India - Marxist veteran Prakash Karat was on Monday re-elected general secretary for the third consecutive term at the party's 20th Congress, which concluded in Kozhikode, Kerala. Karat, 64, was elected as general secretary in 2005 at the New Delhi Congress and reelected at Coimbatore for the second term. Attended by over 700 delegates from all states, the meet, which had deliberated on the poll debacle the CPI-M suffered in West Bengal and Kerala.
Hitting back at Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat for allegedly calling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam a 'family controlled party', Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday sought to turn the tables on the communist leader, reminding him that his wife is working with him in their party.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat writes about US President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to India.
Prakash Karat, general secretary of Communist party of India-Marxist, termed the Budget 'flawed'. While speaking to rediff.com, he said, "The increase in indirect taxes will add to inflation. The government is neither going to achieve growth nor it will be able to contain inflation with this budget."
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat called for unification between Communists and Socialists to forge a "viable political alternative". Karat, who was participating in a function to mark the centenary celebrations of late socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, said on Tuesday, "the Communists are ready to forge a third force in the country in which socialists should also join and share a common platform."
The Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Friday said the Left parties were making efforts to form a Third Front as an alternative to both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party although he did not spell out a time frame.
He was unanimously elected the new general secretary of the party.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, on an eight-day visit to China, will hold talks with\nsenior Chinese leaders on stepping up party-to-party ties and further developing Sino-Indian relations.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat are understood to have discussed the economic slowdown, the political situation and the CPI-M's position as a general election approaches.
Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Friday met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the two leaders are understood have discussed the pros and cons of probable candidates for the upcoming Presidential election.
Unhappy over the imposition of Central rule in Meghalaya, senior Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Friday held discussions on the issue with opposition leader in the Lok Sabha L K Advani and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat in New Delhi.
Efforts to give a final shape to a national alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party continued on Sunday with Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat meeting Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in Delhi. Karat drove to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister's residence in Delhi and held discussions with her for around three hours.
Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday presided over the crucial party's politburo meeting in New Delhi to review the party's dismal performance in West Bengal and a close miss in Kerala polls.
Among all VIP messages wishing him quick recovery, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may cherish the most the one sent by Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat.
The CPM, upset with the government's disinvestment programme, has suspended its participation in the United Progressive Alliance's coordination committee.
Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday lashed out at the Maoists, saying they have degenerated into anarchic violence in the guise of fighting for the cause of the oppressed classes."They wear the red flag and attack the red flag (CPI-M). They are killing tribals, farmers, workers and their families in the name of fighting for the cause of the tribals and the oppressed," Karat said at a public meeting.
The 65-year-old leader had taken over as general secretary of the CPI-M from Prakash Karat in the 21st party congress, which was held in Visakhapatnam, in 2015.
Some of the points regarding the agreement were discussed during the meeting, Baru said, adding Karat stated that he would put it to the party's Politburo which will meet over the weekend.
Exuding confidence that Left Front would come back in its bastions, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday criticised the United Progressive Alliance-II for following anti-people policy. "In the UPA's first term, the Left exercised all restrains and succeed in checking prices, disinvestment and subjugation by the government to the corporate," said Karat.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat and several other senior party leaders on Wednesday had a narrow escape as an LPG cylinder burst into flames within five meters of the venue where a party meeting was in progress.
The United Progressive Alliance government has failed to address the agrarian crisis and the price rise of essential commodities and there is a need for a third alternative, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat said on Saturday. Speaking at the party's 19th Congress in Coimbatore, Karat said this third alternative cannot be merely an electoral alliance.
Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday stated that the Left parties would not compromise on the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam.The CPI-M leader underlined the urgent need for an alternative economic policy as the people were reeling under scorching prices for the 'wrong policies adopted by the United Progressive Alliance'.
Stung by the Left parties' drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala and West Bengal, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday said his party was critically analysing the reasons for it.
Communist Party of India - Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain how Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee continued to be a minister in his government when her party is 'openly' supporting Maoists."I want to ask the prime minister, 'you say that Maoists are a threat to the country's internal security and those supporting these Maoists and intensifying the threat are in your Cabinet, he said.
Message board on Karat's statement on forming third front more bark than bite?
Politically, the striking outcome of the first year of the UPA government is its increasing vulnerability, says Communist Party of India Marxist's General Secretary Prakash Karat
If Karat's six-page long speech is an indication, he spent eight paragraphs attacking the Congress, while just one paragraph went into slamming the BJP for its communal politics.
Public money 'looted' through an 'unholy nexus' between United Progressive Alliance politicians and bureaucrats is being used for the April 13 assembly elections in Kerala, alleged Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday.
In a candid overview of the state of the Left parties in India, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat told a conference at the University of Cambridge that the Leftist forces in the country were still "banking on the concepts and theories of the 1940s".
Whole-timers, who form the backbone of the party, are more difficult to get nowadays, admits the CPI-M. Although the party membership has increased in the past few years along with its might in national politics (it has 43 Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha), the CPI-M has conceded its problems of a continuing high attrition rate. The rate of attrition from the party is as high as 7.5 per cent. In other words, for every 200 members, 15 members are leaving the party.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday said there was possibility of an alliance minus the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Communist Party of India - Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the case of senior Urdu journalist Syed Mohd Ahmad Kazmi, who has been languishing in jail since March 6 after he was detained in connection with the bomb blast in an Israeli embassy car in Delhi on February 13. In a letter to Dr Singh, he said that Kazmi was a journalist of repute and as such, there was concern over the treatment meted out to him.
A book comprising a collection of articles penned by Communist Party of India-Marxist's General Secretary Prakash Karat trashes the deal.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday denied reports that he had threatened elections on the issue of the Indo-US nuclear deal and felt such reports in recent days were an attempt to create an "atmosphere of insecurity" about the Centre.
Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat says that the time has come for the 'corrupt' government led by Manmohan Singh to bow down to public pressure over the Lokpal impasse.
'There are many serious crimes in which powerful and fake babas have been involved in... The states where this is prevalent are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and even Delhi,' CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat tells Neeta Kolhatkar.
If political analysts and party insiders are to be believed, the CPI-M would soon be divided into two easily identifiable groups: Pro-Prakash Karat and anti-Karat. "Some veteran party members are only awaiting the trust vote result. Should the United Progressive Alliance government win, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat and his team will be in for some rude shocks," say party insiders.
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