Django renaming class casued AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute '_meta' - django

Question

How can I solve this issue, I renamed a through Model class and now getting the following error when trying to migrate:
(django_env) UKC02TQH6UHV22:pcc_django rki23$ python manage.py migrate
Operations to perform:
Apply all migrations: admin, auth, contenttypes, microblog, project_portal, sessions, url_tree
Running migrations:
Applying project_portal.0012_auto_20200205_1241...Traceback (most recent call last):
File "manage.py", line 15, in <module>
execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 381, in execute_from_command_line
utility.execute()
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 375, in execute
self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 323, in run_from_argv
self.execute(*args, **cmd_options)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 364, in execute
output = self.handle(*args, **options)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 83, in wrapped
res = handle_func(*args, **kwargs)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/commands/migrate.py", line 234, in handle
fake_initial=fake_initial,
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/executor.py", line 117, in migrate
state = self._migrate_all_forwards(state, plan, full_plan, fake=fake, fake_initial=fake_initial)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/executor.py", line 147, in _migrate_all_forwards
state = self.apply_migration(state, migration, fake=fake, fake_initial=fake_initial)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/executor.py", line 245, in apply_migration
state = migration.apply(state, schema_editor)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/migration.py", line 124, in apply
operation.database_forwards(self.app_label, schema_editor, old_state, project_state)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/operations/fields.py", line 249, in database_forwards
schema_editor.alter_field(from_model, from_field, to_field)
File "/Users/rki23/opt/anaconda3/envs/django_env/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/backends/base/schema.py", line 524, in alter_field
not new_field.remote_field.through._meta.auto_created):
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute '_meta'
(django_env) UKC02TQH6UHV22:pcc_django rki23$
What do I need to do to fix this please?
THis is the migration file that is causing the issue. The name change was for a many to many field.
# Generated by Django 2.2.5 on 2020-02-05 12:41
from django.db import migrations, models
class Migration(migrations.Migration):
dependencies = [
('project_portal', '0011_auto_20200127_0953'),
]
operations = [
migrations.RenameModel(
old_name='CategorySatisfied',
new_name='TaskComplete',
),
migrations.AlterField(
model_name='updatecategory',
name='projects',
field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, related_name='task_complete', through='project_portal.CategorySatisfied', to='project_portal.Project'),
),
]