People's Democracy

WEST BENGAL

                        CPI(M) Calls for Mass Rallies

                        and Mass Conventions

                        B Prasant

IN its one-day meeting held on September 17, 2009 the CPI(M) Bengal state committee gave a rousing call for mass assemblages and mass conventions to be continued all over the state to defend democracy and to foil imperialist designs. 

Party state secretary Biman Basu led the discussion at the state committee meeting in which Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present throughout.  Biman Basu later briefed the media about the meeting. He was clear in stressing the pro-rich and anti-poor outlook of the Congress-led r�gime at the centre. 

Biman Basu had little doubt that as the days would rush by the disruption of people�s unity would be actively pushed forth and unimpeded by the Indian ruling classes that held a vice-like grip over the rich-dominated central government.  Attacks on the pro-poor Left, especially the three CPI(M)-led Left governments in the country would increase incessantly.

The speaker drew specific examples to show the unabashed pro-rich bias the central government displayed with garishness. The points to note include renewed disinvestment, massive financial benefits being doled out to big business, especially MNCs operating in India, and a wide tax cut across the board for those in the super-rich category.

It is against these pro-rich neo-liberal policies that a continuous, organised, militant movement of the mass of the people must be built up and there was no time to be lost.  Biman Basu discussed in great depth the political situation coming up in Bengal. He recalled the massive assemblage of the people on August 31 and called it a success thanks to the months of campaign that had preceded it in thousands of cities, townships, villages, and hamlets in the remotest corners of the state.

Basu also informed that the state committee felt that the task of improving and further augmenting the Party organisation was a necessary task of supreme importance at the present point in time in Bengal.  The Party functioning must be made to move ahead apace, keeping the interest of the working people firmly in focus. 

Rectification campaign, reminded Basu, was not, could not by its very character, be a seasonal job.  It must continue with even greater fervour in the present political ambience when attacks were raining down on the CPI(M) and the Left from the imperialist-backed class enemies.

Party education must be stressed at all functional levels of the Bengal CPI(M) was the consensus of the state committee which also agreed to  increasing the circulation of not just the Bengali language Party press but also of central organs like the People�s Democracy and Lok Lehar.

Addressing the state committee, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that the governmental functioning needed to be accelerated in terms of targeted development for the mass of the people of Bengal. The people must be approached and told that the attempt to build up terror in Bengal must be resisted at all costs, for the sake of peace, progress, and prosperity. 

The slogan and the cry �working class, unite!� should be highlighted in the form of a political drive.  The Party on its part must continue to play the vanguard r�le of urging on the masses to take the state of Bengal forward in all developmental sectors, agrarian and industrial, head always held high.