No Dalits in CPM Polit Bureau

The CPM’s failure to include a Dalit in its Polit Bureau during its 54 years of existence has invited charges of deliberate exclusion of a group that makes up the bulk of the party.

Leaders say the reason Dalits, youth or minorities do not hold top posts lies in the paltry allowances, which is even lower than Rs 5,000 in some states and that, too, is not paid on time. That is why some of them are raising the demand for a re-look at the pay structure.

The lower representation of these communities in the central leadership and even in Polit Bureau had come up in the Hyderabad party congress and the political organisation report castigated the state units for providing inadequate wages for whole-timers.

A senior CPM leader said one could find Dalits and Muslims in leadership positions at the lower levels.

The party leadership believes that since most of them from the Dalit or minority communities are not economically well-off, they cannot become whole-timers, which is a pre-requisite for rising in the leadership ladder.

“Are we giving them enough money to sustain? That has to change. Without this, it is difficult for an underprivileged person to rise to the top leadership level. We need to change this situation,” he said.