CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat admitted that party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury’s death was a heavy loss for the Left and democratic movement in India. He called for a ‘collective leadership’ in Yechury’s absence. Karat said that Yechury had played a leading role in forming INDIA bloc to take on BJP. Yechury died just seven months before the crucial 24th party congress in Madurai.