--- title: "CPI(M) Struggles After Yechury's Passing | Model Diplomat" description: "Sitaram Yechury's death leaves the CPI(M) struggling for coalition leverage, weakening the Left's bargaining power against the BJP in India's shifting politics." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/story/cpim-faces-challenges-after-yechurys-death-in-2024" --- # CPI(M) Struggles After Yechury's Passing The Indian Left loses a key coalition broker with Yechury gone. Model DiplomatMay 1, 20263 min readAsia [The Hindu BureauM.A. Baby reveals the only time when Sitaram Yechury overruled CPI(M)‘s diktat](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/ma-baby-reveals-the-only-time-when-sitaram-yechury-overruled-cpims-diktat/article69747756.ece)[Amarnath TewaryBihar polls will be the first test of the call to defeat BJP: CPI(M)‘s M.A. Baby - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihar/bihar-polls-will-be-the-first-test-of-the-call-to-defeat-bjp-cpims-ma-baby/article69541184.ece)[Hareesh P \_12232Sitaram Yechury Bhavan inaugurated in city](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/sitaram-yechury-bhavan-inaugurated-in-city/article70038961.ece) ## Without Yechury, CPI(M) Loses Its Best Coalition Broker *M.A. Baby controls the party machine, but Sitaram Yechury’s death left the Indian Left with less leverage in Delhi and inside anti-BJP coalitions.* **The power shift is inside the opposition, not inside parliament.** Sitaram Yechury’s archive at *Hindustan Times* is a reminder that the late CPI(M) leader was not just a party ideologue but a national message-setter, using mainstream platforms to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s politics directly [Read all stories from Sitaram Yechury - Hindustan Times](https://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/sitaram-yechury-101608310294142 "hindustantimes.com"). Since Yechury’s death in **September 2024**, the CPI(M) has moved to institutional continuity by electing **M.A. Baby** as general secretary at its **24th Party Congress in Madurai in April 2025** [Bihar polls will be the first test of the call to defeat BJP: CPI(M)’s M.A. Baby - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihar/bihar-polls-will-be-the-first-test-of-the-call-to-defeat-bjp-cpims-ma-baby/article69541184.ece "thehindu.com"). ## Why Yechury mattered beyond the Left Yechury’s real leverage was not electoral scale. It was brokerage. He gave the CPI(M) something rare in Delhi: a leader acceptable to party cadre, intelligible to television audiences, and usable by broader anti-BJP formations. That matters in a fragmented opposition system, especially in a country where the Left’s national footprint has shrunk even as its organizational utility remains high in states like **Kerala** and in alliance arithmetic elsewhere. The evidence for that role is now clearer in retrospect. Senior CPI(M) leader **M.A. Baby** said there was only **one time** Yechury overruled the party’s diktat — a revealing detail because it shows Yechury’s value lay in disciplined flexibility, not freelancing [M.A. Baby reveals the only time when Sitaram Yechury overruled CPI(M)’s diktat - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/ma-baby-reveals-the-only-time-when-sitaram-yechury-overruled-cpims-diktat/article69747756.ece "thehindu.com"). That is the kind of authority coalition politics rewards. This is why the post-Yechury CPI(M) faces a narrower choice set. Baby has kept the party on a familiar line — broad unity to defeat the BJP, with **Bihar** framed as the first major test after the 2025 congress [Bihar polls will be the first test of the call to defeat BJP: CPI(M)’s M.A. Baby - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihar/bihar-polls-will-be-the-first-test-of-the-call-to-defeat-bjp-cpims-ma-baby/article69541184.ece "thehindu.com"). But Baby’s own explanation of why the party opposes the **NEP 2020** nationally while implementing parts of it in **Kerala** suggests a more managerial, state-grounded politics than Yechury’s Delhi-facing coalition craft [Hypocrisy or pragmatism? M.A. Baby on why CPM opposes NEP 2020 nationally but implements many aspects of it in Kerala - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/education/hypocrisy-or-pragmatism-m-a-baby-on-why-cpm-opposes-nep-2020-nationally-but-implements-many-aspects-of-it-in-kerala/article69576188.ece "thehindu.com"). ## Who gains, who loses **The BJP gains indirectly.** It loses a critic, but more importantly the opposition loses a negotiator. **Regional INDIA bloc parties** now face one less trusted Left intermediary in Delhi. **M.A. Baby** gains internal authority, but inherits a harder job: preserving CPI(M)’s relevance without Yechury’s personal access across party lines. For more on this wider [India](https://modeldiplomat.com/discover/india "modeldiplomat.com") and [international](https://modeldiplomat.com/discover/international "modeldiplomat.com") political context, the key point is simple: the CPI(M) still has organization, but less brokerage. ## What to watch next Watch **Bihar’s assembly election cycle** as the first hard test of the CPI(M)’s post-Yechury strategy and watch whether Baby can turn calls for anti-BJP unity into durable seat-sharing discipline [Bihar polls will be the first test of the call to defeat BJP: CPI(M)’s M.A. Baby - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihar/bihar-polls-will-be-the-first-test-of-the-call-to-defeat-bjp-cpims-ma-baby/article69541184.ece "thehindu.com"). The next signal is whether CPI(M) can still shape national opposition coordination on issues like census and delimitation, where Baby has already pushed for an all-party meeting [CPI(M) calls for all-party meet on modalities of census - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cpim-calls-for-all-party-meet-on-modalities-of-census/article69665793.ece "thehindu.com"). If it cannot, Yechury’s real successor will not be a person. It will be a vacuum. 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