Schedule of State Conferences ahead of 21st Party congrress

1. Rajasthan December 11-13 Raisinghnagar
2. Himachal Pradesh December 16-18 Shimla
3. Madhya Pradesh December 17-19 Anooppur
4. Delhi December 20-21 Delhi
5. Manipur December 20-22 Imphal
6. Gujarat January 24-25, 2015
7. Uttarakhand December 27-29 Chamoli
8. Chattisgarh December 28-30 Bhilai
9. Odisha January 3-5, 2015 Bhubaneshwar
10. Andaman & Nicobar January 4
11. Karnataka January 8-11 Bengaluru
12. Uttar Pradesh January 10-12 Bulandshehar
13. Punjab January 15-17 Jalandhar
14. Jharkhand February 2-4 Bokaro
15. Bihar February 5-7 Bettiah
16. Andhra Pradesh February 8-9 Vijayawada
17. Assam February 10-12 Tezpur
18. Haryana February 14-16 Rohtak
19. Tamilnadu February 16-19 Chennai
20. Kerala February 20-23 Alappuzha
21. Tripura February 25-27 Agartala
22. Telangana February 26-March 1 Hyderabad
23. West Bengal March 8-12 Kolkata
24. Maharashtra March 13-15 Surgana

Central Committee Meeting: January 19-21, 2015 at Hyderabad.

CPIM Himachal Pradesh State Conference

Com. Omkar Shad

CPIM Himchal Pradesh State conference ahead of the 21st party congress was held in Shimla from December 16 to 18.

Braving the icy chill from the Himalayas consequent to the heavy snowfall, thousands of activists carrying the Red flag marched through the streets of the Shimla town in a rally marking the commencement of the 15^th Himachal State conference of the CPI(M).

Addressing the rally CPI(M) General Secretary, Prakash Karat drew attention to the twin attacks on the people of the country especially after the assumption of power by the BJP. One the one hand the neo liberal policies which widen the gap between the rich and the poor are being implemented with greater vigour while on the other hand the BJP and its governmet is using communalism to strengthen its base which will be detrimental to the interests of the country.

Saying that the the six month period of the Modi government has exposed that the acche din is  only for the big capitalists and corporates, the CPI(M) General Secretary said that the government is opening hitherto unthought of sectors like railways to 100% FDI. The government is hell bent on privatizing strategic sectors like coal. He reminded the people that Coal was nationalized by Indira Gandhi when thousands of workers were being killed because of hazardous work conditions and non compliance of security measures by private owners.

Com. Prakash condemned the moves to curtail and restrict the MNREGA scheme by cutting down allocations and altering the nature of the scheme. He castigated the central government for increasing taxes on oil and increasing its prices even while there has been a 40 per cent decline in international prices. In a bid to appease the US ahead of Obama’s visit to attend the Republic Day parade, the government is trying to increase FDI in insurance and the defence sector, he said. Com. Karat called upon the people to fight back these policies.

The other to address the rally included Rakesh Singha, CPI(M) state secretary, Sanjay Chauhan and Tikender Singh Panwar Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Shimla. They lambasted the state government for pursuing the policies that are heaping huge burdens on the common people. They pointed out that the phenomenal fee hike in the university and colleges has rendered higher education beyond the reach of the common man.  

The Himachal Pradesh conference elected a 30 member state committee. The state committee at its first meeting elected Onkar Shad as the new state secretary. It also elected a  secretariat. Comrades Rakesh Singha, Kashmir singh Thakur, Tikender Singh Panwar, Kushal Bhardwaj, Prem Gautam , Kuldeep Tanwar and Sanjay Chauhan were elected as the new state secretariat. A new state control commission was also elected of 3 members of which Rajender chauhan was elected as the Chairperson. The state conference also unanimously elected the 4 member delegation to represent the Himachal Party in the 21st party Congress in Vishakapatnam in April which include Onkar shad, Tikender Singh Panwar, Kashmir Thakur and Kuldeep Tanwar
. Addressing the delegates CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member M.A Baby drew attention to the challenges being faced by the Left internationally and the formidable struggle being waged in Latin America and the successes achieved therein. Baby pointed out the historic task before the Left in India especially in the new situation. He said that the economic policies being pursued by the BJP-led government at the centre is detrimental to the interests of the vast mass of the people, even while benefitting the big business and corporate houses.

Central Committee member A Vijayraghwan recalling the historic struggles that the Left has waged in the state pointed out the need for presenting an alternative before the people. He stressed the importance of building a strong and fighting organisation to meet the challenges that are being posed in the present situation.

Earlier in the day the political resolution placed by the outgoing state secretary Rakesh Singha was unanimously adopted. The  resolution calls for conducting struggles on political and economic issues including the pressing demands of the people. Also it lays stress on propagating the Left and democratic alternative among the people. 

The conference has resolved 5 major tasks for the ensuing 3 years.
1. To build an alternative to the present set of policies and propagate it amongst the people. The alternate which is pro people and anti neo liberal.
2. To build struggle on local issues of the people that include the deteriorating services sector especially on water, electricity, health and education.
3. To identify the issues of atrocities being committed on women, dalit and such other social issues and provide and alternate to it.
4. Bringing the issue of land to the fore to champion the demand of providing land to the landless and to the inhabitants of the state. Further to check lands sharks and check the dilution of section 118 of the land reform and tenancy act. Along with that employment, PDS and education be championed. To lend support to the ongoing struggle of the students community against fee hike and anti democratic ban on their elections.
5. To expose the neo liberal policies amongst the young people and build an alternate culture which is progressive and democratic against the alien values of decadent feudal and consumerist culture.

Victory for Cuba

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) welcomes the agreement between the governments of Cuba and the United States to take steps to normalize relations between the two countries. The release of the three remaining “Cuban Five” who were jailed in the US on false charges of espionage and the decision to renew diplomatic relations are a victory for the Cuban people and government who have faced more than five decades of efforts by the United States to isolate it.

 

The United States has been enforcing an economic blockade on Cuba which needs to be reversed. This is a policy which has no support whatsoever from the international community. The US Congress has to repeal the law in this regard but President Obama can take steps to relax the measures.

 

The CPI(M) along with progressive and democratic forces in India congratulate the Cuban government and people for this important breakthrough.