People's Democracy

Kozhikode to Host 20th CPI(M) Congress

THE historic city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is going to host the 20th party congress of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) in April next year. Meeting in AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, the Kerala state committee of the CPI(M) selected Kozhikode as the venue for the next all-India congress. Earlier the Central Committee meeting, held in Hyderabad in June 2011, had decided to hold the party congress in Kerala.

This is the fourth time Kerala is going to host a party congress. Earlier, Palghat was the venue of fourth congress of the united party in 1956;   Kochi hosted the eighth party congress in 1968 (after the reorganisation of the party in 1964) and Thiruvananthapuram was the venue of the thirteenth party congress held in the 1988-end.

According to another decision of the state committee, the Kerala state conference of the party will be held at Thiruvananthapuram in the second week of February next year.

It may be noted that Kozhikode played a significant role in the history of India. It was in 1498 that Vasco Da Gama, a Portuguese merchant sailor, landed in Kappad, a natural port at a stone’s throw from the city that was then the capital of Malabar. This event is marked as a milestone in the five hundred years long history of European colonisation in India. From then onward, the Portuguese merchants turned into invaders but they also suffered severe setbacks at the hands of the local kings and sea warriors like Kunhali Marakkars, who was the captain of Zamorine’s naval force. The legacy of this anti-colonial fight was continued by the city’s people during the fight against Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries.