Suryakanto is CPM's new Bengal Secy

After much rumblings over the years in the party for a change of leadership, the CPI(M) on Friday elected its new State secretary Suryakanto Mishra who is also a member of party Politburo and the State Opposition leader. The elections took place in the 24th State conference of the party’s West Bengal State Committee, which gave out the call to “oust Trinamool Congress and save Bengal.”

The State conference also elected a new State committee with 21 new members, all young faces. The prominent among those who were dropped from the State committee were former MP Tarit Topdar, Nirupam Sen who is a Politburo member. The conference also elected 175 delegates for the 21st party congress, which will be held at Vishakhapatnam from April 14 to 19.

On whether the changes will be able to reduce the bleeding in the left Front which had not won a election since 2009 when it lost the parliamentary elections and 2011 when it was ousted from power from the State by the Trinamool Congress, the rank and file had been asking for more militant leadership.  “If we would have given even half of the issues Mamata Banerjee gave us she would have toppled us ten times,” said a State secretariat member