Kolkata, Nov 4 (IANS): Election of a new CPI(M) general secretary, a decision on the fate of seat-sharing pact with the Congress in West Bengal and an organisational rejig will likely dominate the agenda of the party’s next congress at Madurai in Tamil Nadu in April, a party source said on Monday

The post of permanent party general secretary has been lying vacant since the demise of Sitaram Yechury in September this year, with his predecessor Prakash Karat currently acting as the politburo coordinator, said a leader.

The selection of the new general secretary will also be crucial on whether the CPI(M)-led Left Front will continue its seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress in West Bengal, despite the two parties being rivals in Kerala, he said.

On the organisational front, a review of the party’s decision to abolish 'Zonal Committee' in 2022 is expected to dominate the discussions at Madurai, said parties insiders.

Zonal Committee was abolished at the 23rd party congress held in April 2022 at Kannur in Kerala.

The erstwhile Zonal Committee used to exist within the two tiers of Area Committee and the State Committee and acted as the communication line between the two tiers.

Following the decision to do away with the tier of Zonal Committee many veteran party activists lost their organisational chairs and became inactive while continuing as ordinary members of the party, said insiders.

As pointed out by a central committee member from West Bengal, this abolition of Zonal Committees weakened the organisational structure in many states, said a leader.

“There have been proposals from a number of districts to revive Zonal Committees in order to involve the currently inactive party members and rejuvenate the party’s organisational network. Therefore, a decision on this count is likely to be taken at the forthcoming party congress,” a central committee member said.