People's Democracy

CHHATTISGARH

Third State Conference Of CPI(M)

Calls For Intensifying Struggles

THE third state conference of Chhattisgarh CPI(M) state unit was held from December 17-19, 2007 at Korba. The venue was named after Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar and the dais was named Comrade Bahadur Singh Dhakad Manch. The conference began with flag hoisting by one of the senior most Party leader and state committee member Kameswar Singh. All the delegates paid floral tribute to martyrs. The proceedings of the conference were conducted by three-member presidium comprising of B Sanyal, Dhanbai and N K Kashyap.

INAUGURAL SESSION

M K Pandhe, Polit Bureau member of the Party inaugurated the conference. In his address he emphasised on strengthening the organisation and further intensifying the struggle on people’s issues. He said both BJP and Congress party are basically anti-people. Charging the UPA government at the centre of trying to bypass the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) the speaker said this was being done in order to give more and more benefits to capitalists. The poorer sections of the country are being fully deprived. It was only due to the pressure of the Left parties the UPA government has been forced to bring and pass some pro-people bills in the parliament like REGA, tribal forest right bill, right to information bill etc. But the government is not serious about the proper implementation of even these programmes. This government is yet to bring any law for the social security of the millions of unorganised workers. The situation of farmers is worsening by the day as reflected in growing number of their suicides in many parts of the country. On foreign policy front, during the last three and half years of its regime, the UPA government is clearly tilting towards US imperialism. The Indo-US nuclear deal is a glaring example of this phenomenon.

Pandhe criticised the BJP government of Chhattisgarh for pursuing anti-people policies. It has virtually declared a war against the people. The law and order situation has become worst even as they have totally institutionalised corruption. The government sponsored  salwa judum movement has made the life of the tribal people miserable. He also charged the BJP government of attacking the minorities and poisoning the atmosphere by spreading communal propaganda. The farmers are either migrating or committing suicide.

Pandhe said that during the period since the formation of the UPA government, the prestige of CPI(M) has increased to a large extent in the country. It has gained the confidence of people by its principled positions and struggles. He called upon the delegates to mobilise the people against the anti-people policies of both the central and state government and expand Party base in the state. He also stressed the need for Party education and importance of reading Party papers and literature.

He noted that during the last three years the Chhattisgarh state committee has conducted many struggles and the Party organisation has also developed. Saying that this is not sufficient, he called for more struggles and further expansion of the Party. He concluded by expressing the hope that by the next conference CPI(M) will reach to new heights.

Jogender Sharma, central committee member of the Party in his speech expressed satisfaction about the development of the Party and the struggles it conducted in the state. He however cautioned against any complacency because there are still many weaknesses in the Party which need to be corrected as fast as possible. He said that the Party will have to go much ahead as per the requirements of the situation in the state. He criticised BJP government of the state for its utter failure on all fronts. He particularly found fault with its wrong policy in dealing with naxalite menace through sponsored outfit Salwa-Judum. He reiterated that Salwa Judum has only brought more misery for the tribals of the state and demanded its disbandment immediately.

DELEGATES SESSION

M K Nandy, Party state secretary placed the general secretary report on December 17. The report dwelt at length on the political situation prevailing in the state and also on the organisational status of the Party. The state is politically divided mainly between BJP and Congress with other parties being in a very weak situation. The BJP is ruling the state for last four years but it has miserably failed on all fronts. The people of the state are suffering a lot because of the anti-people policies of the government. It has virtually dismantled the PDS; commericialsied and communalised the educational system; the health department is not functioning properly; the law and order situation has practically broken down with the naxalite activity being the highest in the country; murder, loot, dacoity, rapes etc are increasing day by day. The tribals have been evicted from their lands and the communal forces are attacking the minorities, especially Christians in different parts of the state. The state government is giving full protection to these communal forces.

The state government sponsored Salwa-Judum movement has miserably failed in the state bringing more misery to the tribal people. The tribals are being forcibly evicted from their villages and brought into the camps of Salwa-Judum. There is no security in the camps. The naxalites are attacking the camps every now and then resulting in the killings of hundreds of tribals.

The corruption in the state administration is rampant at all levels. The BJP leaders, government officials are involved in a number of corruption cases. The state government is openly giving protection to these corrupt persons.

In the state 85 per cent of the people are living in the villages and their livelihood is dependent on agriculture. But only 7.05 per cent of the land is double crop land while 33.49 per cent is single crop land. The irrigation system is very bad. All this is resulting in high rates of migration from the state. A whopping 57 per cent of population is living on earnings of only Rs 12 per day. The exploitation of the women, dalits and tribals is maximum.

Congress being the biggest opposition party in the state has failed to organise any effective movements against these anti-people policies of the government. Other parties are very weak and are unable to do much. The CPI(M) is trying to organise some movements as per its strength.

The report sharply analayses the organisational position of the Party and mass organisations. It has noted the increase in Party membership by 42.41 per cent since the last conference. But the membership of the women is only 7.66 per cent. As for the composition, workers constitute 30.27 per cent of membership, kisans 55.16 per cent and middle classes 13.7 per cent. Socially, OBCs constitute 28.64 per cent, SCs 16.65 per cent, STs 35.44 per cent, minorities 2.66 per cent and general 15.45 per cent of the membership.

The report reviewed several organisational weaknesses which need to be corrected as early as possible in order to effectively face the neo-liberal offensives of the ruling classes. The report identified priority areas for future work and especially emphasised all round development of the Party and mass organisations by mobilising the people in the struggle on local, state and all India issues.

DISCUSSION ON REPORT

AND NEW LEADERSHIP

A total of 47 delegates, including 3 women, participated in the discussion on the general secretary report. While supporting the report they shared their experiences of conducting struggles. All participants emphasised on the need to overcome the weaknesses mentioned in the report and spread the organisation to newer areas. After the discussion, the report was unanimously adopted by the conference. Later 14 resolutions were adopted on various issues.

The conference elected a new 25-member state committee. Of these one member would be included in the future. Four members were newly elected to this committee out of which one is a woman. The newly elected state committee unanimously decided to form a 7-member state secretariat comprising of M K Nandy, B Sanyal, Sanjay Parate, D R Mahapatra, Vakil Bharti, J S Sodhi and Ashok Singh. M K Nandy was re-elected as state secretary of the Party.

The credential report noted that a total of 103 delegates and 9 observers attended the conference. Out of which 11 were women delegates. The social background of the delegates are as follows: SC - 8, ST - 27, OBC - 25, minorities - 8 and general - 44.

RALLY AND MASS MEETING

A colourful rally was organised from the new bus stand of Korba on the occasion of the state conference. Around 5000 people participated in the rally from all corners of the state. The marchers reached Korba by trains, buses and trucks one day earlier. The women participation in the rally was notable. The rally moved through main roads of the city and reached the venue of the public meeting, Ramlial Maidan. The main speakers of the meeting were M K Pandhe, Jogender Sharma and M K Nandy. B Sanyal, secretariat member of the Party presided over the meeting.

All the speakers criticised the anti-people policies of the central and state government. They explained the role played by the Party in the struggle against the anti-national, anti-people Indo-US nuclear deal, central government economic policies as well as state government anti-tribal Salwa Judum movement and its anti-people, communal and divisive polices. They appealed to the people to support and actively join the struggles of the Party against these policies.