SITARAM Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M), whilst placing the decisions of the Polit Bureau meeting in a press conference on October 11, demanded sacking of the union minister Ajay Mishra, and stringent action against his son, Ashish Mishra who is an accused in the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in UP. The Polit Bureau meeting took place in Delhi on October 9-10.

Yechury said that the pace of vaccination must be enhanced, and he also denounced the sale of Air India and condemned the killing of civilians in Jammu & Kashmir.

Talking about the Lakhmipur incident, where four farmers and a journalist were crushed by cars belonging to the minister, Sitaram Yechury said, "it was a brutal cold-blooded murder".

Speaking on the vaccination drive, he said: "despite all propaganda and publicity, a mere 18.9 per cent of our people are fully vaccinated as of now. Only 48.7 per cent received the first dose.

Denouncing the sale of Air India to Tata’s, he pointed out that it is a gift of our national asset. Yechury said that the Tata’s will inherit Rs 15,300 crore of debt, which surely be restructured, and the central government got only Rs 2,700 crore. Rs 46,262 of the remaining debt will be the burden of the government, meaning the people will bear the burden of clearing this debt.

Yechury explained that this debt accrued because of buying a new fleet of aircraft which as assets now will be owned by the Tata’s. Why did not the government sell these aircrafts and clear the debt instead of handing them as a gift to the Tatas, he asked?

On the killing of civilians in Jammu & Kashmir, he said that these have created a climate of fear that has not been seen in Kashmir since the early 1990s". He further added that these attacks were targeted at creating communal polarisation. Quoting PM’s statement of reducing the distance from Delhi and heart- Dilli ki doori aur dil se doori dono kam kiye jayenge(the distance from Delhi and heart both will be reduced), Yechury pointed out that in fact, the gap has further widened. The people feel more alienated in Jammu & Kashmir now. He said the confidence of the people must be earned and it cannot be commanded.

Sitaram Yechury also slammed the government over price rise and said rising petrol and diesel prices are crippling the livelihoods of people. He demanded immediate withdrawal of central excise duties on petroleum products.

Speaking about the 23rd Party Congress which is scheduled to be held in April 2022, he said that the process of holding conferences at the state levels has begun. He termed it as the largest exercise amongst the political parties of democratic participation where every member of the Party participates in the decision-making process. Every member will be engaging in the political resolution which will be released soon. He explained that every member has the right to send amendments to the political resolution. These amendments are then taken into consideration in the Party Congress.

Replying to one of the questions asked from the media about CPI(M)’s alliance with political parties, he said all this will be finalised in the Congress and as of now the tactics for the ensuing assembly elections in few states like UP, Uttrakhand, Punjab etc., is to ensure maximum pooling of anti-BJP votes.
To another question on the alarming shortage of coal in India and the looming power crisis, he said the central government is hiding the truth from the country and it is a failure of the government in addressing it.