When you ran yum remove python on your CentOS 6 system, you essentially broke the package management system itself. YUM is written in Python and depends on Python 2.6 for its core functionality. Here's why this happens:

# rpm -q --requires yum | grep python
python >= 2.6
python(abi) = 2.6
python-iniparse
python-urlgrabber
python-libs
python-sqlite

The error message you're seeing suggests Python is still present but likely corrupted. Let's check deeper:

# rpm -V python
missing /usr/bin/python
missing /usr/bin/python2

This verification shows critical files are missing despite RPM believing Python is installed.

Here's the step-by-step solution to restore your system:

# wget http://vault.centos.org/6.10/os/x86_64/Packages/python-2.6.6-68.el6.x86_64.rpm
# wget http://vault.centos.org/6.10/os/x86_64/Packages/yum-3.2.29-81.el6.centos.noarch.rpm
# rpm -ivh --replacepkgs --replacefiles python-2.6.6-68.el6.x86_64.rpm
# rpm -ivh --replacepkgs --replacefiles yum-3.2.29-81.el6.centos.noarch.rpm

If the above doesn't work, try forcing the installation:

# rpm -ivh --force --nodeps python-2.6.6-68.el6.x86_64.rpm
# rpm -ivh --force --nodeps yum-3.2.29-81.el6.centos.noarch.rpm

After reinstalling, verify everything works:

# python -V
Python 2.6.6

# yum list installed | grep python
python.x86_64                     2.6.6-68.el6            @base

To safely install Python 2.7 without breaking YUM:

# yum install centos-release-scl
# yum install python27
# scl enable python27 bash

This keeps system Python 2.6 intact while giving you access to Python 2.7 via Software Collections.

When working with CentOS 6 systems, one of the most dangerous commands you can accidentally run is:

yum remove python

This nukes not just Python but also YUM itself since the package manager depends on Python. Suddenly, you're left with:

-bash: yum: command not found

The RPM database thinks Python is still installed (as shown by the package conflict message), but critical symlinks and dependencies are broken. Here's what you'll typically see:

$ ls -la /usr/bin/python*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    6 Dec  4 20:31 python2 -> python
-rwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4864 Nov 12  2010 python2.6
-rwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4864 Nov 12  2010 python;4edbd894

First, download the Python RPM manually:

wget http://vault.centos.org/6.0/os/x86_64/Packages/python-2.6.5-3.el6.x86_64.rpm

Then force reinstall it with RPM:

rpm -iv --replacepkgs --replacefiles python-2.6.5-3.el6.x86_64.rpm

After successful reinstallation, verify both Python and YUM are working:

python -V
yum --version

For Python 2.7 installation on CentOS 6, always use alternatives:

yum install python27 -y
update-alternatives --config python

If the above fails, you'll need to manually install YUM dependencies:

rpm -ivh http://vault.centos.org/6.0/os/x86_64/Packages/yum-3.2.29-40.el6.noarch.rpm \
http://vault.centos.org/6.0/os/x86_64/Packages/yum-metadata-parser-1.1.2-16.el6.x86_64.rpm \
http://vault.centos.org/6.0/os/x86_64/Packages/yum-plugin-fastestmirror-1.1.30-14.el6.noarch.rpm