CPI-M lost touch with ground reality, concedes Yechury

September 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury Tuesday alleged that cabinet ministers in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) were patronising Maoist rebels in West Bengal to target his party offices and cadres. "The prime minister says the greatest danger to our internal security is Maoist violence, and then you have cabinet ministers patronising them (the rebels)," Yechury told reporters, without naming his party's West Bengal arch rival, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee who is also the railways minister in the UPA government.

September 14th, 2009 GUWAHATI - Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Sitaram Yechury Monday lashed out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government alleging that it had failed to keep its promises and the impact of this could be disastrous. In the first 100 days, the government has faltered more than it performed and we will have to wait and watch how the government moves from here on.

September 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will remain West Bengal's Chief Minister, laying to rest speculation that he would be replaced. "There is no such thought of removing him or that he should give up, or anything of that sort, on the agenda.

August 21st, 2009 Seattle's mayor concedes in Democratic primarySEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels says he has lost his bid for a third term. Nickels trails two challengers with just 25.6 percent of the vote.

July 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury on Sunday supported Bharatiya Janata Party concerns over the unreliability of the Electronic Voting Machines, (EVMs). Yechury told reporters in the national capital on Sunday that if the need be, the country should revert back to ballot paper, so that the records could be maintained.

June 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The West Bengal Government will take a decision today on the question of banning the CPI (Maoist), following central government's ban imposition on the group, CPI (M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury disclosed on Tuesday. "The Government is privy to the information on the threat perceptions.

May 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Opposing any external interference in Nepal affairs, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury Tuesday said crisis in that country was 'not unnatural' as such 'hiccups' occur in a 'nascent democracy'. Nepal has a 'nascent democracy in which many hiccups can develop, which is not unnatural', Yechury said in a statement.

May 3rd, 2009 KOLKATA - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury Sunday said the Congress cannot form a government on its own after the general elections. 'After three phases of election, the Congress has realised that it cannot form the government this time at the centre on its own strength,' Yechury said here.

April 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPM) leader Sitaram Yechury on Saturday slammed Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of the performance of the Left Front government in West Bengal, saying the performance of the government would be decided by the people. "Everybody in the country has the right to have his or her opinion and so does Rahul Gandhi.

April 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury Saturday asked the Election Commission to ensure the presence of central paramilitary forces in the Darjeeling hills after polling day to ensure the safety of voters in the area. Yechury, who is just back from Darjeeling after addressing election rallies, said in his complaint: 'The separatist Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) is in public threatening the people not to vote for the CPI-M candidate.

April 21st, 2009 DARJEELING - Formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland will not solve problems faced by people in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here Monday. Addressing the maiden election meeting organised by the CPI-M in the hills of north Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls April 30, Yechury said tripartite talks involving the state and central governments and the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) were the only way to find a solution to the Gorkhaland crisis.

April 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury has described the 'communal' Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a 'great threat' but maintained that the Congress too should be kept out of power. 'We believe the BJP is a communal force and there is a great threat because of them.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should immediately withdraw Varun Gandhi's candidature from Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat if it has any respect for democratic principles, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said here Wednesday. If the BJP did not withdraw Varun Gandhi's candidature, it would be established that the saffron party supports 'the unfiltered communal venom Varun Gandhi has poured', Yechury told reporters here after launching the party's election website.

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav met here Sunday, a meeting that was seen as politically significant ahead of the elections. 'Yechury reached Yadav's residence at around 1.30 p.m.

December 27th, 2008 KOLKATA - India should go to the United Nations (UN) to build 'maximum international pressure on Pakistan' to combat the terrorism issue, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said Sunday. 'I think India should mobilise maximum international pressure on Pakistan to combat terrorism.