CPM mulls shift in political line before 2019 Lok Sabha poll

New Delhi: Facing an uphill task to remain relevant in the national political scenario, the Marxists are looking at a number of options, including a shift in their basic political line.

The CPI(M) is all set to review and debate the electoral strategy of aligning with the Opposition, including the Congress, for the 2019 general elections at the party congress that will be held in April next year.

Debates have been raging in the party over the electoral alliance with the Congress after its drubbing in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections. The architect of the CPI(M)-Congress deal, party general secretary Sitaram Yechury, was recently blocked by central committee and politburo from getting a third term in the Rajya Sabha.

The forthcoming party congress will also take a call on whether Yechury will get a second term as general secretary. 

The Kerala faction, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former party boss Prakash Karat, are against a second term for Yechury, sources say.

However, the party’s Bengal faction seems to be in favour of Yechury remaining general secretary.