CPI(M) facing its most challenging situation since formation, says organisational report

It said the Lok Sabha elections of April-May 2019 resulted in the worst ever election performance of the CPI(M) as it could win only three seats

The Political-Organisation Report of the CPI(M) presented at the Party Congress in Kerala's Kannur is a tell-tale document on what went wrong with the Left outfit -- from not implementing the decisions taken four years ago to a section of supporters favouring the BJP to defeat the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal among others.

Acknowledging that the party is facing the “most challenging situation” since its formation in 1964, the report admits that two out of its three strong bases -- West Bengal and Tripura -- are under severe attack and there has been "erosion" in its mass base and influence. There has been a "general decline" of the party “all over the country, with the exception of Kerala”.

Referring to the 2019 Assembly elections when it managed to win just three seats across the country, the report spoke about a worrying trend. It said the "polarisation between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP led to some sections of the traditional voters of the Left shifting to the BJP with the sole intention of defeating the Trinamool's tyrannical regime".

Some of the decisions taken at the Party Congress in 2018 remained part of unfinished assignments. Expanding its reach beyond agricultural labourers was one of the main steps suggested in the 2016 Kolkata Plenum but there was no forward movement on the decision taken two years later on the formation of rural workers' unions by state committees.

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However, the report said, there was not a single report that this had been done or a rural workers union was formed.

Similarly, the setting up of locality, community-based organisations with trade unions and other area-based mass organisations were also suggested. The report said this can be done only if the party takes the initiative.

While the CPI(M) has been eloquent about expanding in North India, the decision to hold at least two meetings a year with party secretaries of Hindi-speaking states did not happen. The report said that this could happen only if the party sets a time-table and deputes a Polit Bureau member to execute it.

There have been critical remarks about the implementation of calls for protest. Referring to a May 2018 call for a protest demanding urgent electoral reforms, it said the call was not observed in most states. On a joint Left party call in October 2018 when the Rafale scam came to light, the report said a people's hearing was organised in Delhi but there were no reports of any other joint protest.

When it comes to membership, it has declined from 10.25 lakh in 2017 to 9.91 lakh in 2021 (3.86 per cent decrease) and the "bulk of this reduction" is due to the "fall in membership" in West Bengal and Tripura where the party was "facing an abnormal situation due to the continuous attacks and repression".

The membership had fallen to 9.61 lakh in 2020 due to Covid-19 lockdown but it improved last year.

To revive the party and the Left, the CPI(M) has set ten goals, which include the identification of forces that can be rallied around a Left and democratic programme in the next six months. For this, the CPI(M) will hold talks with the CPI to arrive at a common understanding of how such a platform can be built in states on the model of existing ones in Kerala, Tripura and West Bengal.

It also includes a planned drive to recruit new young full timers. Social media will be another target area with the report suggesting that state committees should draw up a plan for integrating social media with the party organisation.

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