No 'third time' luck for Sitaram Yechury: CPM refuses Rajya Sabha seat to party general secretary

New Delhi: Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM leader Sitaram Yechury will not head to the Rajya Sabha for a third consecutive term.

CPM's central committee - party's highest decision-making body - has decided not to nominate Yechury for a third Rajya Sabha term, keeping in mind their internal policy of no leader representing party in the Upper House for more than two terms.

The decision was arrived after four hours of discussions among a deeply-divided central committee.

"The Kerala unit of the party was against taking help of Congress to get the party general secrtary re-elected," a top leader told PTI.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had ruled out the possibility of a third Rajya Sabha term for Yechuri.

Central committee members from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had also opposed the proposal, which had the backing of the West Bengal and Tripura units.

The central committee The proposal for a third term for Yechury was moved by the West Bengal unit of the CPM in June after the Congress' central leadership reportedly offered its support to help get Yechury re-elected.

The party's politburo had already rejected the proposal before it came up for discussion by the central committee on Tuesday.

The second term of Yechury, a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, ends next month.