Prakash Karat was today re-elected General Secretary of the CPI by the 19th party Congress which also reconstituted the politburo replacing veteran leaders Jyoti Basu and Harkishen Singh Surjeet. Basu will be a Special Invitee to the Politburo while ailing Surjeet, a former General Secretary, will be a Special Invitee to the Central Committee.

Both Basu and Surjeet have been members of the Politburo for 44 years since 1964, when the CPI was formed after the split in the Communist Party of India. R Umanath is also not there in the newly-constituted Politburo.

He will continue to be a member of the Central Committee, the highest decision making body of the party. Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, CITU General Secretary Mohd Amin and Bengal minister Nirupam Sen are the new entrants in the 15-member Politburo elected by the party Congress on its last day here.