Yechury re-elected CPI-M General Secretary
Hyderabad, April 22: The CPI-M on Sunday unanimously re-elected Sitaram Yechury as its General Secretary for another three years and he pledged to take steps to oust the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yechury's re-election took place on the last day of the party's 22nd Congress here, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar announced.
Sarkar said Yechury, 65, was elected by a 95-member new Central Committee, which also elected a 17-member new Politburo.
"Yechury's election was unanimous. There was no contest," Sarkar told IANS.
Yechury, who has been a member of the CPI-M since 1974 when he joined its student wing, was first elected the CPI-M General Secretary in 2015.
Born in Chennai, Yechury was educated in Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, a city where he has spent most of his life.
Re-elected to the top post a year ahead of the general elections, Yechury said the CPI-M's first goal was to oust the BJP-RSS Modi government.
In his address to the party delegates from across the country, he assured them that he would try to fulfil the immense responsibility of this office to the best of his capability.
The five-day conclave saw the groups led by Yechury and former General Secretary Prakash Karat agreeing to amendments in the draft political resolution.
The resolution, while ruling out a political alliance with the Congress party, made it clear that it was ready for an understanding with that party. It reiterated that its first and foremost goal was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The CPI-M, the largest party of the Left, has faced electoral reverses in West Bengal and more recently in Tripura. It is now in power in only Kerala.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Punjab: Two shooters, 5 others arrested in AAP sarpanch murder case
Chandigarh (PTI): Punjab Police on Monday said it has arrested two shooters and five other accused in the murder case of an AAP sarpanch who was killed at a wedding in Amritsar on January 4.
The two shooters -- Sukhraj Singh alias Ganga from Patti in Tarn Taran district and Karamjit Singh from Gurdaspur district -- were arrested from Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Sunday in coordination with the local police and central agencies, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav told reporters here.
The two were produced before a court in Raipur and taken into custody after obtaining transit remand. They are being brought to Amritsar for further investigation, he said.
The other five arrested accused, who were part of the support and logistical module, were arrested from Punjab, the DGP said.
Jharmal Singh, sarpanch of Valthoa village in Tarn Taran, was shot dead at the wedding at point-blank range.
CCTV footage showed the two shooters walking into the wedding venue, one of them pulling out a gun and firing at Singh's head before fleeing the spot. Singh was rushed to a hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.
Soon after the incident, the AAP government drew flak from the opposition over alleged deteriorating law and order in Punjab, with the BJP demanding Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's resignation.
