Clash of the titans: Yechury and Karat battle over party's internal policy

The Sitaram Yechury versus Prakash Karat battle in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fuelled speculation that a split in the party might just have been averted. 

On Sunday, the CPI (M) ended a three-day Central Committee meeting where Yechury's draft political resolution on the party's future electoral line was defeated in favour of Karat's by 55 to 31 votes. 

While the fate of the current battle will be decided at the party conclave in Hyderabad in April, some within the party are convinced the battle is more a personality clash and that the Karat camp would rush to adopt the line Yechury has espoused but only after they manage to evict Yechury from the post of party chief.