People's Democracy

‘Party Has Strong Collective Leadership’

New General Secretary’s Concluding Speech

IMMEDIATELY after being unanimously elected as the new general secretary of the Party, Prakash Karat made a brief speech to the congress. Commenting on various reports that the Party was going to have a “generational” change, he said in CPI(M) the leadership is not centred on personalities. “We can claim with pride, right from inception the CPI(M) had a strong collective leadership. It continues in the same way. This is the difference between the CPI(M) and other parties”, he said.

Referring to Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu, Karat said they were among the nine navaratnas in the first Polit Bureau and the Party is fortunate to have the two amongst us still. He revealed that before the Party congress, both these stalwarts had given letters to the PB seeking they be relieved from the Polit Bureau and the central committee in view of their advancing age and health problems. Jyoti Basu had stated that it is not good for communists to continue in their positions when they cannot contribute as actively as they wished. Karat said the PB discussed this matter and rejected their request. When they asked that they be relieved at least from the PB, even that was rejected. And finally when they said they could be made special invitees to the PB so that their places can be taken by new leaders, the Polit Bureau rejected even that proposal. Explaining the rationale for the PB stand, Karat said: “This is the leadership which built not just the Party but also the communist movement in the country. We will continue to cherish their contribution and look towards them for guidance. They will be a source of strength for the Party.” He also conveyed Party’s gratitude to the service put in by Comrades E Balanandan, P Ramachandran and Koratala Satyanarayana who were relieved from the Polit Bureau. Karat assured the congress that the newly elected central committee and Polit Bureau will continue to discharge their responsibilities with the high standards they had set.

Karat said the tasks set forth by the 18th congress – to continue the fight against communalism; to intensify struggles against neo-liberal economic policies and project alternative policies; to further the struggle against imperialism – if implemented successfully will strengthen the Party in a landmark manner. He said the Party will focus all its energies on strengthening itself. “Though we are the third biggest party in the country, we are not satisfied with that. We want to make the CPI(M) the strongest force”, he said. Underlining that this would require hard work by the cadre and members of the Party, he called on all our 9 lakh odd members to go among the people and work for strengthening the Party. Terming the congress a good one, given the deliberations and decisions taken by it Karat thanked the Delhi state committee on behalf of all delegates and observers for successfully organising the conference, particularly the volunteers for the kind of work they put in.