People's Democracy

REFLECTING the spirit of the Global Struggle Against Globalisation, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) released the logo of its coming 17th congress at a media conference in Hyderabad on December 9. The logo was released by the chairman of the reception committee for the congress, Koratala Satyanarayana, its secretary M V Narasimha Reddy and treasurer B V Raghavulu.

The CPI(M) is going to hold its congress in Andhra Pradesh 20 years after its Vijayawada congress in 1982. It will be attended by 685 delegates from different states, apart from representatives of Communist Parties from 25 countries. Koratala explained that the congress would review the current political situation and the programmes of action taken up so far. The policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, being implemented for the last one decade, have had an adverse impact on the economy and lives of the people in our country and the world. These "reforms" are making our economy dependent on others. The CPI(M) congress would review the struggles and movements conducted against these policies so far and chalk out a future course of action to defeat them.

Explaining the significance of the logo, Raghavulu said a global struggle was needed against globalisation, as the logo of the CPI(M) congress reflects. Under globalisation, the common people are being subjected to exploitation by the rich countries. Holding the party’s congress in Andhra Pradesh has a special significance in the sense that here is a state of India where these policies are being stridently implemented and the Left parties are vigorously fighting against them. With a view to drawing lessons from the struggles against globalisation all over the world and taking forward the struggles in the state, seminars would be organised on various issues --- agreements with the World Bank and their consequences, privatisation of public sector units, experiences of corporate agriculture in the world, and good governance and smart government as propagated by the World Bank and state government and their consequences. These seminars will commence by the end of this month and prominent people from all over the country will be invited to participate, Raghavulu said. Asserting that globalisation will be fought globally, Raghavulu warned that the venues of the World Trade Organisation itself will become a ground for struggle.

The draft political resolution for the congress will be released for discussion two months in advance and the contents of the discussion will be circulated to the delegates, Raghavulu added.

The CPI(M) congress will be held at RTC Kalyanamandapam from March 19 to 24, 2002. A massive rally will be organised on the last day of the congress. Exhibitions and cultural programmes will be held during the congress. Before that, the CPI(M) state conference will be held at Anantapur on January 10-12. CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury and Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar will be attending to the state conference.