Shiv Sena calls Sitaram Yechury 'captain of sinking ship'

Mumbai: Describing CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury as the "captain of a sinking ship", Shiv Sena on Tuesday said the left party has "lost relevance" in the country and does not have the strength to stand up as a strong opposition.

Terming former CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat's tenure as a "failure", the Sena said that party which once had a sizable number of nearly 50 MPs in Lok Sabha has reduced to below 10 today.

"Prakash Karat's tenure was a failure. The party which ruled West Bengal for nearly three decades was washed away by Mamata Banerjee. There used to be a time when about 50 members represented the party in Lok Sabha. Today, there are not even 10 members," the party said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"There is immense frustration and despair within the party ranks. Sitaram Yechury has actually been made the 'captain of a sinking ship'," it said.

Yechury was on Sunday unanimously elected new general secretary of CPI(M) at party's 21st Congress in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He succeeds Prakash Karat as the fifth general secretary of the 51-year-old party.

The BJP ally in Maharashtra praised Yechury as an outstanding parliamentarian and a prolific writer and said he gets along with leaders of other political parties much more easily than his predecessors.

"A man with exceptional qualities has been given the reigns of CPI (M), but in reality there is no party left. In a way he has been made the head of a village that is inhabited by none," the Sena said.

The Sena said it will be a matter of concern for Yechury that if the CPI(M) could even be called as a "national party" with the party losing footing in once its stronghold West Bengal and even in states like Bihar, Kerala and Tripura.

"They do not have the power left in them to stand up as a strong opposition against the government," it added.

It further said, "After being elected as the General Secretary, Yechury in his speech said that the Modi-government has unleashed a new trident of communalism, neoliberal economic policies and erosion of democratic practice. And that the party needs to ensure this 'trishul' does not pierce the heart of India. This shows that Yechury has once again picked up an old block."

The Sena said the question is that what new will Yechury do to revive his party.