The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo on Thursday turned down veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu's proposal to quit the party's highest policy-making body because of age and ill health.
Asked whether he would continue to be a politburo member, 94-year-old Basu told media persons at the CPI-M state headquarters, "I do not wish to continue and I have verbally communicated this to the party leadership."
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan were on Saturday suspended from the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo over a war-of-words in public.
The Communist Party of India Marxist Politburo has decided to meet in New Delhi soon to take an 'appropriate decision' if the talks between the Left Front and the United Progressive Alliance fail to end the logjam over the India-United States nuclear agreement.The party central committee, in its meeting in Kolkata last week, had authorised the politburo to take a final decision if the UPA government went ahead with the operationalisation of the nuclear deal.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist Politburo on Saturday began a two-day meeting to finalise a document, to deal with its organisational problems, which led to its rout in the recent polls in its strongholds of West Bengal and Kerala. The purpose of the meeting is to give final touches to amend and strengthen its 'rectification document' that had been prepared several years ago. The meeting is being attended by all top leaders barring CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Perhaps sensing mid-term polls, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has reinstated Kerala Chief Minister V S Achutanandhan and the party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the politburo
Left parties on Monday condemned the brutal Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh saying they disapproved violent retribution against political opponents, but opposed the killings of and atrocities against innocent tribals there.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who is also a member of the Communist Party of India Marxist politburo, has openly come out against the CPI-M's stance on People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani .The veteran leader, while fielding questions at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the government would investigate whether any cases were pending against Madani. An unabashed Madani welcomed the chief minister's statement.
The Sabarimala temple women's entry issue has resurfaced in Kerala, leading to a political debate between the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to consider review petitions related to its 2018 verdict.
The 84-year-old Marxist veteran also likened the party's action on Saturday to suspend him and state party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to 'punishing children when they commit mistakes'.
Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, a key figure in Kerala's political history, died on Monday at the age of 101. He was a founding member of the CPI(M) and served as Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.
M A Baby faces several significant challenges: Helping the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front secure a third consecutive term in Kerala's 2026 assembly elections, and regaining ground lost in the party's traditional strongholds of West Bengal, Tripura, and other regions.
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.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday ruled out any change in leadership following the poll debacle in West Bengal and Kerala as top leaders met in New Delhi to analyse what went wrong for the party in the assembly elections.
When contacted, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India national secretary D Raja declined immediate comment, saying they could raise the matter in Parliament.
The two-day Communist Party of India - Marxist politburo meeting, held at the party headquarters in Delhi, ended on Sunday. Politburo member and senior leader Sitaram Yechury, while briefing media persons, said that the party has called for a special central committee meeting on July 11 and 12 to discuss the factional split in the party's Kerala unit.However, sources said that the two-day meet has decided to take action against Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued a note to its state units on the draft political resolution for the upcoming party congress. The note says the party does not consider the Narendra Modi government or the Indian State as "neo-fascist", even as there are manifestations of "neo-fascist characteristics". The note clarifies that the party is not calling the Modi government "neo-fascist", but is concerned about the dangers of the BJP-RSS consolidating power and pushing a Hindutva-corporate agenda. The CPI(M) distinguishes between "neo-fascism", which it describes as a global phenomenon rooted in the crisis of neoliberalism, and classical fascism.
Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member and state secretary Biman Bose emerged from the hospital at 12.12 pm on Sunday weeping to formally announce the passing away of 95-year-old Basu.
The crucial two-day Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo meeting specifically for Kerala party affairs will start at the AKG Bhavan, the CPI-M national headquarters, in Delhi at 10 am on Saturday.
'In India there is so much exploitation because of capitalism,' says CPI-M Politburo member Brinda Karat.
The ensuing assembly elections in four states besides a host of issues, including the airport privatisation, Iran and Foreign Direct Investment in the retail sector, would figure prominently at the meet.
Associated with all the major working class struggles in the country in the last three decades, Pandhe played a key role in bringing about the unity of the central trade unions.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo meeting, which began in Kolkata on Tuesday, did not discuss party partriach Jyoti Basu's desire to quit from the highest decision-making forum due to ill-health and age.
Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will remain West Bengal's Chief Minister, laying to rest speculation that he would be replaced.
The former chief minister has said his old age and ill-health make it difficult for him to continue.
Attacking Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in the wake of the Lokayukta indicting him on the illegal mining issue, Left parties on Thursday demanded his resignation, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party leader has no moral authority to continue in his office.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is set to elect its next general secretary, with speculation rife over who will lead the party. Leading contenders include M A Baby, backed by the party's Kerala unit, and Ashok Dhawale, who enjoys support from the West Bengal lobby. Other potential candidates include Mohammed Salim, B V Raghavulu, and Brinda Karat. The election will take place at the 24th CPI(M) congress in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
CPI-M leader W R Varadarajan said senior party leaders Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu have requested the party to relieve them from politburo due to their advanced age and immobility. A decision on the request would be made on April 3. Both had urged the CPI-M to relieve them in the last Congress, but the party had requested them to continue as it felt their advice and guidance would be vital.
Former Kerala minister M A Baby was elected as the CPI(M) general secretary at the 24th party congress in Madurai. Baby, who was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1998, has been a member of the Politburo since 2012. He succeeds Sitaram Yechury, who passed away last year.
Unfazed by the organisational consequences, Communist Party of India-Marxist stalwart V S Achuthanandan Wednesday said he was dropped from the party politburo a few years back for telling the truth about a corruption case in which state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was facing inquiry.
The top leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist met in New Delhi on Monday to study its debacle in the assembly elections. Here's what they analysed.
While Communist Party of India-Marxist Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Interim Budget was nothing but a 'perorative' (lengthy and pompous) document and government had in fact lowered the expenditure on major social structure schemes, CPI leaders Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja called it a 'lollipop' budget meant for the coming elections.
Denying desisting from their stated position on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Left parties on Tuesday asserted that they were ready for "any eventuality" even as they continued their engagement with the government to break the impasse over the issue.
The major coalition formations in the country were trying to weaken the Left movement, which had always put forward an alternative to the Centre's neo-liberal and anti-imperialist policies in the states governed by them, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury said on Monday.
Without opposing the EC's decision to hold a five-phased general election, Left parties on Monday said some parties would find it difficult to sustain their campaigns in certain states and expressed the view that a two-phase election in West Bengal would have been better.
In a bid to enter the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo members Sitaram Yechuri and Brinda Karat on Monday filed their nominations for the upcoming election to the Upper House.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo member Brinda Karat came down heavily on Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and some other UPA allies terming them as 'hyprocrites' on various issues, including the petrol price hike.
'The UPA must stick to the common understanding arrived at with Left parties that the Committee's findings will be taken into account before the government proceeds to operationalise this deal,' he said.
Both Ramala and Subhas took care of the old and ailing Basu in his last years and paid a visit to his Indira Bhawan residence regularly.
Dalit leaders, including Prakash Ambedkar, Jogendra Kawade, Sulekha Kumbhare and Rajendra Gavai were scheduled to take part in the protest rally.
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