By NewsGram Staff Writer

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today handed over the reins of the party to Sitaram Yechury after he was elected as the new general secretary of the leftist party.

The official announcement of the leadership change was made at the end of the six-day party congress at Visakhapatnam in which a new Central Committee (CC) was also elected. Yechury's name was unanimously approved by the 91 members of the CC.

The clash between politburo member Sitaram Yechury and the party leader SR Pillai came to an end after the later withdrew his nomination and supported Yechury's candidature.

Yechury's supporters had argued that he is 15 years younger than Pillai and therefore he will be able to reach out to younger generation in an effective manner.

Earlier, adept leaders of CPI(M) like Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, V.S. Achuthanandan , and Nirupam Sen were also dropped from the Central Committee.