The CPI(M)’s five-day-long Plenum will begin on Sunday in Kolkata to strategise its future political stand, ways to increase the mass base and debate on party’s decisions of past 25 years. Plenum is a rare conference of the Communist parties and is called at critical junctures. The last Plenum of CPI(M) was held 36 years ago in 1979 at Sakia in West Bengal.
More than 400 leaders of the party will participate in the brainstorming session, and the delegates have been selected from all State committees on representational basis, said senior leaders in charge of the Plenum.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s recent article in the party organ People’s Democracy gives a broad-based agenda to be discussed in the meeting. According to the article, the party wanted to debate the reasons behind the massive erosion in the party bases including the strong bastions like West Bengal.
Yechury’s article also gives an impression that the party wanted to analyse how it has isolated or distanced from the young generation, digital world and impact of liberalisation and aversion of new generation to the old fashioned trade union movements.
Party insiders said, apart from political strategies for the future and stand to be taken in the current political scenario, the five-day-long Plenum is meant to concentrate on the macro affairs of the party and much needed shifts in policies to represent the entire sections of the society.
They pointed out that the recent Party Congress held in Visakhapatanam also emphasised the need for evolving strategies to stop erosion in party membership and lack of representation of younger generation in the party membership.
Rejecting the media reports on the possible debates on the forthcoming elections in the crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala, the leaders maintained these debates have to be held at the State level on routine basis. The leaders also rejected the reports on the possible internal tussle when analysis of past decisions took place.
According to them, the debates on the past decisions of the party from 1990 and its analysis would be quite non-personal. This process is part of the Communist movements to analyse party’s past decisions and its outcome and follies would always be in non-personal nature, they said adding this is an analysis and not a trial and problem with the media is they treat Communist parties’ meetings like other parties.
The Plenum would also spend time on the recent boom in technology and social changes after liberalisation and the ways for Communist movements to accommodate it. After the Plenum, the party will draft a report which will be sent to all forums upto branch level for further discussion and adoption.