If yum commands hang this solution worked

1) Check for any processes holding the rpm database open using command

lsof | grep /var/lib/rpm

If this gives any output, kill all processes using kill -9 PID

2) Delete temporary DB files

rm -f /var/lib/rpm/__*

3) Next is to rebuild RPM database

rpm –rebuilddb -v -v

Got this little script from oracle

#!/bin/bash

# Check for duplicate RPMs
duplicates=$(package-cleanup --dupes)

# If there are duplicates, list them and ask for confirmation to remove
if [ -n "$duplicates" ]; then
    echo "Duplicates found:"
    echo "$duplicates"
    read -p "Do you want to remove these packages? (y/n): " response
    if [[ "$response" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
        echo "Removing duplicate RPMs..."
        package-cleanup --cleandupes
        echo "Duplicate RPMs removed successfully."
    else
        echo "Operation aborted."
    fi
else
    echo "No duplicate RPMs found."
fi

command to remove older kernel

package-cleanup --oldkernels 

add the option

 --count=1 

if you want to rmeove ALL older kernels