The electoral drubbing notwithstanding, Prakash Karat will continue as the general secretary of the Communist Party of India - Marxist, whose Politburo met in New Delhi on Monday, and reviewed its worst electoral performance since its inception in 1964.
Senior CPI-M members, who attended the meeting, said there was no question of the general secretary quitting the post.
"There is no question of Karat's resignation," politburo members Nirupam Sen and Manik Sarkar told reporters after the meeting, which was skipped by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattarcharjee amid reports that he has offered to quit, following the poll debacle in the state.
The meeting was attended by all other members of the CPI-M politburo.
Sen rubbished as 'baseless and absolute rumour' reports of Bhattacharjee quitting the chief ministership.
Asked whether people have rejected the industrialisation policy, he said, "I don't think the people are against industry. These were all-India elections. State-level issues had an impact on the poll results."
