People's Democracy

CALL OF THE 18TH STATE CONFERENCE OF TRIPURA CPI(M)

Carry Forward The Struggle For Further Advance

  Haripada Das

Manik Sarkar speaking in the state conference

THE eighteenth state conference of the CPI(M) Tripura unit has given a fervent call to the Party activists, supporters, sympathisers and the peace-loving people of the state to sustain sincere initiative towards augmentation of the Party qualitatively, ideologically; consolidate organisationally the gains achieved so far; and carry forward the stiff struggle to further isolate the enemies of the people. The conference called for rescuing the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council – a vital Constitutional body for ensuring comprehensive development of the tribals of the state and which was an outcome of strong united struggle of the tribals and nontribals of the state – in the ensuing elections scheduled on March 5. The conference also gave a clarion call to build up stronger mass movements on a 15-point charter of demands pertaining to overall progress of the state, including infrastructure development.

The eighteenth state conference, which was held during February 15-17, was inaugurated by senior CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Jyoti Basu on the evening of February 15. In his inaugural speech, Jyoti Basu highly appreciated the people of Tripura for inching forward overcoming tremendous odds. He pointed out that the demographic feature of the state was quite different from any other states in the country. Tribals who were once a majority in the state have been reduced to a minority due to historical and political reasons. He warned that both national and international vested interests are active within and outside the long porous borders of the state.  Basu acclaimed the fact that despite all these factors, the people of Tripura could maintain the unity and integrity of the state and holding the red flag atop. While wishing the conference a grand success, he paid homage to all those who courted martyrdom in the fight for unity and integrity of the state.

A five member presidium consisting of Anil Sarkar, Bajuban Riyan, Khagen Das, Bidya Debbarma and Manjulika Bose and an eleven member steering committee  with rest of the state secretariat members were formed to conduct the proceedings of the conference. A condolence resolution and resolution in memory of the martyrs were read out followed by observance of one minute silence in homage to the veterans who passed away and the martyrs.

POL-ORG REPORT

Baidyanath Majumder, state secretary of the Party presented the political-organisational report to the conference. In his deliberations in presentation of the report, he briefly narrated the international and national situation and elaborated the state situation. According to Majumder, the victory of the Left Front in the crucial 2003 assembly elections in the state was the turning point. Following this victory, sea-deep frustration and desperation engulfed the militants as well as the opposition parties. The Party and the Left Front intensified their multi-pronged offensive – political, ideological, developmental and administrative – against the extremists and their patrons which resulted in more than 25,000 families traditionally belonging to Congress or INPT shifting their allegiance towards Left Front and CPI(M) in particular.

 This victory also had its first effect on the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, which was usurped by the INPT, a mask of the outlawed NLFT by the way of hijacking the popular mandate through terror and gun power. The INPT got split and the breakaway group formed a new political party, NSPT, which replaced the INPT from running the ADC with outside support of the Left Front.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the Left Front secured 67 per cent votes – the highest ever vote share got by the LF – indicating that the families which shifted towards the Left camp sincerely voted for it. Almost all opposition candidates lost their deposits, which is unprecedented in the electoral history of the state. Similarly, in the three-tier Panchayat elections also the LF set records in respect of votes polled as well as seats won. The Congress and other opposition parties were almost routed. Baidyanath Majumder emphasised the need to consolidate the newer sections in the Party as well as in the mass organisations.

Citing the steady growth of the Party and mass organisations, the report presented the comparative statement of Party membership and that of mass organisations:

Growth of Party Membership

*Enrolment of membership of CITU, AIKS, TSU and Cultural Coordination were not closed at the time of the reporting. 

Baidyanath Majumder cautioned that the Party must not be content with this growth in membership and pointed out vast sections of people are still rallied behind the vested interests and political forces that don’t serve their interest. He emphasised the need to approach them and win them over towards the Left. At the same time, he cautioned against some alien trends creeping in the Party due to such growth and due to the fact of the Party being in power continuously for a decade and about 22 years in two stretches.  These trends must be purged through constant ideological struggle within the Party and regular conduct of Party education, particularly to the new entrants.

Baidyanath Majumder concluded his presentation of report saying “over the last three years, since the 17th state conference, we have achieved a number of successes. Many new friends have come into contact with the Party. Numerous struggles, big and small, have been carried out under the leadership of the Party. Success of the Party has resulted from the all-crucial electoral struggle during this period. The strength of the Party and the mass organisations has increased. The enemies of the people have been all the more isolated than ever before. Even while the Party’s politically aggressive stand has strengthened at the state level, its power of intervention at the national level is now much greater than earlier. But still there is no scope for self-complacency, as the enemies of the people are not extinct, nor shall their conspiracies come to a halt. Making better use of the current comparatively conducive situation, we have to move forward at a more vigorous pace. The Party’s mass base among the people has to be extended further. Vast sections outside our fold have to be rallied to our side. Innumerable clear sighted and committed Party activists are required for this. Thousands of tireless and self-sacrificing soldiers are required. The Party’s expansion must go hand-in-hand with the preservation of the Party’s revolutionary character. The glorious memory of the self-sacrifice of innumerable martyrs shall ignite and inspire us along this path. The crucial ADC elections are ahead. The atmosphere of peace and progress in the state, as well as national integration, has to be strengthened by relentlessly routing the enemies of the people in the elections.”    

DISCUSSIONS

A total of 56 delegates representing 15 district committees and various mass organisations participated in the discussion on the political-organisational report. They put their views in a constructive manner, enriching the report. They pointed out the creeping in of some alien trends and deviations in a section of the Party and made suggestions to overcome the weaknesses. The trends identified include  parliamentarianism; weaknesses in the practice of criticism and self-criticism; lack of strict adherence to the communist values and principles; wrongly pursuing democratic centralism and collective functioning; failure in ensuring independent role of the mass organisations in the light of the Party document; weaknesses in rendering Party education to the rank and file, especially to the new comers and above all lapses in consolidating the gains so far achieved.     

Some delegates also discussed regarding the performance of the Left Front government. The points raised by them were: speedy implementation of the developmental projects; generation of work in rural areas; achieving the target of cent percent literacy; implementation of the packages declared for upliftment of the SC, ST and OBC people; transparency in functioning of the panchayat and other elected bodies; ensuring involvement of the masses to the maximum extent in running the elected local bodies; augmentation of various services like health, drinking water, electricity, education, irrigation and supply of agricultural inputs; the government’s declared aim to gain self-sufficiency in food by 2010 etc. The delegates stressed on the need for intensive monitoring the progress of the government schemes by the ministers in order to ensure their standard and speedy implementation. It is significant that unlike earlier conferences, this time developmental issues took the lion share of the discussions instead of insurgency problems. Problems of the owners of the land falling outside the barbed wire fence being constructed along the Indo-Bangladesh border also found place in the discussions.

KARAT’S SPEECH

Delivering his speech after the discussions were completed, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat explained the present national situation which took a new shape after the 14th Lok Sabha election. With the BJP ousted by the popular mandate and Congress emerging as the largest party but without the required numbers to form the government, the Left parties decided to lend outside support to the Congress to form government at the centre. This was in order to keep the RSS-VHP led NDA out of power and to protect the nation’s age-old secular fabrics which has been seriously jeoparised by the six year NDA rule. Karat clarified that the support given by the Left to the Congress, an archrival of the communists, was not unconditional but on the basis of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) though we know that all clauses therein are not in our agreement. That is why, the Left always demands that the pro-people clauses of the CMP should be taken up for implementation. The next budget will indicate, how far the Left parties demands have been given priority, he said.

Karat paid glowing tribute to the Party state unit and the people of Tripura for their do-or-die struggle against tremendous odds, for carrying forward the development activities of the Left Front government and for strengthening the mass organisations. The martyrdom of numerous Party cadres in such a unique and united struggle for peace and progress was having a far-reaching impact on the ongoing gradual expansion of the Party base countrywide, opined Karat. The membership of about 45 per cent of the population in frontal organisations of the Party and about 20 per cent membership of women among the overall Party members in the state are two unique features of the Party’s progress in the state, he pointed out.

Hemen Das, CPI(M) Assam state secretary greeted the conference on behalf of the Assam state committee. He attended the conference and heard the deliberations of all the sessions.

REPLY TO DISCUSSIONS

Replying to the discussions of the delegates, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar said the quality of discussions would enrich the Party and its entire cadre politically, ideologically and organisationally and also be useful for self-rectification.

Manik Sarkar pointed out that nearly 28,000 families quit the reactionary camp and joined the Leftist camp over the last two years and said this was the outcome of the Party’s organisational efforts and coordination coupled with the Left Front government’s positive strides forward. He maintained that the main pillar of the communist movement in Tripura is the lofty ideological standard and the struggle-seasoned political awareness among the state’s tribal populace, that has gone a long way in the state’s current success in counter-insurgency operation, leading to significant shift of the focal point of deliberations from extremist menace during the seventeenth conference to the development issues in the current conference. As regards the current favourable security situation in the ADC areas, compared to the situation during the run-up to the ADC poll 2000, he opined that this is due to the excellent cooperation of the police and the people in especially the remote areas hit hardest by the extremist atrocities. He gave a fervent call to the Party leaders and activists to plunge headlong into a statewide struggle immediately after the end of the conference for every inch of the electoral success in the March 5 ADC polls, making it a point to hold ceaseless meetings and marches also outside the ADC areas, so as to boost the morale of the ongoing struggle of the people in the ADC areas and intensifying the isolation of the class enemies. The ADC electoral struggle is to be immediately followed with a series of mass movements to press for the 15-point charter of demands adopted in the conference, urged Sarkar. He also stressed on the need to increase circulation of Party daily newspaper Desher Katha and organs of different mass fronts.

Following the reply of Manik Sarkar, and with some amendments in consonance with the spirit of discussion of the delegates, the draft political-organisational resolution was unanimously adopted by the conference amid loud applause. The resolution incorporated 10-point priorities in organisational initiatives and a 15-point charter of demands for implementing during the next three years.

The conference also adopted a number of resolutions namely, on Rural Employment Guarantee Bill-2004; condemning extremism and for strengthening the movement for peace, harmony and national integration; for greater mobilisation against imperialist aggression; against globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation; against atrocities on women and for enactment of women reservation bill in parliament; giving a call for making the Left Front and its ally victorious in the ensuing ADC elections; for waging a massive struggle on 15-point charter of demands for all out development of the state; condemning the throttling of democracy in Nepal and for a sustained struggle to protect secularism etc.

NEW COMMITTEE

In the final session, the state conference elected an 80-member new state committee. The new state committee then met and elected a 14-member state secretariat, which has re-elected Baidyanath Majumder as state secretary, a post he has been holding since 1998.

The Party veterans Dinesh Debbarma, Purnamohan Tripura and Brajamohan Debbarma  have been accorded the honourable invitee member status in the new party state committee for their solid and ceaseless service rendered to the Party since the Janashiksha movement days in the forties. The three are now aged and ailing.

The number of newly elected members in the state committee is 12. The state secretariat members are: Baidyanath Majumder, Manik Sarkar, Anil Sarkar, Aghore Debbarma , Bijan Dhar, Naryan Rupini, Badal Chowdhury, Khagen Das, Tapan Chakraborty, Gautam Das, Bajuban Riyan, Niranjan Debbarma, Manik Dey and Narayan Kar.

A three-member state control commission with Chitta Chanda as chariman was constituted unanimously. By virtue of the post he holds, Chitta Chanda becomes an ex-officio state committee member.

A 28-member delegation and 3 observers for representing Tripura in the 18th Party Congress has also been elected by the conference unanimously.

Sahid Chowdhury, convenor of the credential committee submitted his report to house. According to his report, it reveals that out of 417 delegates 415 attended the conference of which 47 were women.  

Lastly on behalf of the presidium, Anil Sarkar greeted the delegates, the volunteers, the host Sadar divisional committee, and those who directly and indirectly helped towards the successful conduct of the conference. The conference ended amidst the melody of music and orchestra of international.