Sitaram Yechury elected new CPI (M) general secretary

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury was unanimously elected the new general secretary of the party on Sunday.

At the meeting of the Central Committee, outgoing general secretary Prakash Karat proposed Yechury's name and S.R. Pillai seconded it.

Yechury is the fifth general secretary of the 50-year-old party. He replaces Prakash Karat who has stepped down after three terms.

Earlier, veteran leaders V.S. Achuthanandan, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Nirupam Sen were dropped from the Central Committee.