CPIM Madhya Pradesh State Conference

Com. Badal Saroj

CPIM  Madhya Pradesh State Conference ahead if 21st party congress to be held in April 2015 was successufully held at Annupur.  Total 244 delegates participated in the 3 day conference. Conference was Inaugurated by Com. Brinda Karat and concluded with the speech of Com. K. Varadrajan. Conference also gave a call to launch a vigorous and militant struggle of the working people.

Conference elected 30 member State Committee which reelected Com. Badal Saroj as its secretary with 9 members Secretariat. Com Brinda Karat gave A clarion call to mobilise people against the twin attack of neo-liberal economic policies and communalism posed by Modi Govt. at center and Shivraj Chauhan Govt. in the State .

Brinda Karat meets victims of Rewa firing

CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat addressed six meetings around the Jaypee Cement factory in Rewa district on Thursday where four persons suffered gunshot wounds after allegedly being fired upon by Jaypee Cement personnel in Baijnath village last week. One of the alleged assailants have been taken into custody.

Ms. Karat congratulated the villagers on their resistance to Jaypee’s alleged attempts to grab their land. “ JP [Gaur — the founder of the Jaypee group] and his thugs dared to beat up a pregnant woman so badly that she had to be hospitalised. The local BJP MLA (Abhay Mishra) is behind them. This aim of this criminalisation of politics is to grab the land of the poor,” she told the people of Baijnath.

Geeta Kushwaha, a pregnant woman, was in hospital after being assaulted by security guards of Jaypee Cement on October 3. She told this paper that her home on ancestral lands claimed by Jaypee was destroyed and her belongings seized by the company. “They continued to hit me and fired at us even after we had fallen down,” she said.

Ms. Karat urged voters to vote for the CPI(M), which before delimitation used to represent the Sirmour assembly constituency. The area now falls under the Semariya constituency, from where the party's state committee member Rohit Tiwari is contesting. “(Chief Ministers) Shivraj (Chouhan) and (Narendra) Modi wear glasses with which they can only see Jaypee and Adani and not the poor. Shivraj’s politics have been defined by land grab. The dreams they see are nightmares for the people,” she said.

The area around the Jaypee Plant has periodic tremors due to explosions in the limestone quarries that dot the area. Though a large number of the peasants have grown prosperous by switching from cereals and pulses to vegetables, they live under the constant fear of reprisals by Jaypee Cement with whom they have several land disputes.

In 2007, a youth named Raghavendra Patel was killed when Jaypee guards opened fire on a demonstration for work in the factory. Another youth named Abhishek Mishra, also involved in the movement against land grab, was found dead in July this year after being picked up by the police. The deceased youth have earned the titles of martyrs and two panchayats in the area are now ruled by the CPI(M).

In the martyr villages of Garhwa and Vihari, Ms. Karat met families of the deceased. “Jaypee behaves like a feudal lord,” she told this paper. “While continuing to serve the corporate interests, Shivraj gives little other than propaganda. This is no different from Modi who keeps saying that he was a chaiwallah. If he was one, then he has betrayed his class.”

Ms. Karat added that it was premature to talk of a third front now. "It will depend on the performance of the secular non Congress parties in next year's Lok Sabha polls," she opined. In MP, the CPI(M) has allied with the Samajwadi Party, CPI and, the Rashtriya Samanta Dal. (Courtesy : The Hindu, Photo: Ashutosh Singh)

Eastern Jatha Reaches Delhi

After traversing nearly 2650 kilometers, Eastern Jatha of the Sangharsh Sandesh, completed its journey when it reached Delhi on Thursday evening. This jatha, led by CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat started from Kolkata on 1st March. On its way, the Jatha crossed West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, through numerous towns and villages, addressing thousands of people, calling upon them to unite for the fight for alternative policies.

The Jatha spent 2 days in West Bengal, 2 days in Jharkhand, 5 days in Bihar and 4 days in UP. On its way, 33 public meetings were held – 8 in West Bengal, 5 in Jharkhand, 14 in Bihar, 6 in UP. Many roadside smaller meetings too were held. In more than 125 places jatha was received by people, raising slogans and garlanding leaders. One of the most important feature was many organisations submitted memorandums and people brought their problems to the notice of the leaders.

People from all walks of the society were present in the meetings. While steel and coal workers received Jatha in Raniganj and Durgpur in West Bengal, the last point of such felicitation was Ferozabad in UP, where glass workers, bangle makers were present. Peasants and agricultural workers were of course the majority in these gatherings. ASHA and scheme workers in their uniforms were enthusiastic in almost every area, as they have found in CPI(M) their only friend among all political parties.
 

Etawah

On Thursday, there was one public meeting in Etawah. The peasants of Etawah are fighting a grim battle against forcible land acquisition for a dedicated freight corridor of railways. Nearly 500 acres of land will be acquired, the notification for which has been issued. Peasants are offered very low compensation. CPI(M) is in the forefront demanding justice for the peasants. Already many forms of resistance movements have been organised. Peasants from this area came to attend the meeting in Kachari – the district court area. Lawyers gathered in good numbers in the meeting and welcomed the leaders. It was also reported to CPI(M) leaders that despite being the home district of Mulayam singh Yadav and his chief minister son, in Etawah hundreds of people, particularly from minorities do not have even a ration card. Many muslim women came to the meeting and submitted their grievances in writing.

Prakash Karat, while addressing the rally, said until and unless a powerful movement for alternative policies could be built, there would be no change in the lives of the poor and dispossessed.

Jatha in Delhi
The Jatha was received in Mayur Vihar by the Delhi state committee of the CPI (M). Prakash Karat addressed the gathering. After that, a convoy of vehicles accompanied the Jatha to the party Central Committee headquarters, AKG Bhavan. AK Padmanabhan, Polit Bureau member, Basudeb Acharia, Tapan Sen and Hari Singh Kang, members of the central committee led the members of the CC units in welcoming the leaders at the AKG Bhavan.

South & West Jatha Merge in Bhopal

The Southern Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha which began its journey on February 24 from Kanyakumari and traversed through Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra reached Bhopal on Tuesday evening. Simultaneously, the Western Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha that began its journey from Mumbai on March 08 reached Bhopal after covering Maharashtra. Both these jathas merged at a public meeting organised by the CPI(M) Madhya Pradesh state committee at Neelam Park in Bhopal. Now, one jatha will continue its journey to Delhi from tomorrow. 

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and leader of Southern jatha S Ramachandran Pillai, addressing the gathering said there is no magic or mantra to achieve the most important and genuine demands of the people placed in this jatha programme. The only option is to conduct militant struggles and for this the people must unite overcoming all attempts to divide them on religious, regional and caste lines. He said these struggles must be waged in a consistent and continuous manner to achieve the demands relating to food, housing, wages, social justice etc. 

CPI(M) central secretariat member and Western jatha member Nilotpal Basu in his speech lambasted the UPA-II government for favouring corporates and neglecting the genuine demands of the common people. He explained the purpose of jatha programme and called upon people to join in large numbers the March 19 rally in Delhi. 

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M A Baby, CPI(M) central secretariat member V Sreenivasa Rao, both members of Southern Jatha and CPI(M) central committee member Md Salim and CPI(M) Maharashtra state secretariat member Mariam Dhawale, both members of Western Jatha were also present. CPI(M) Madhya Pradesh unit state secretary Badal Saroj spoke in the meeting.

Earlier, the Western Jatha had an impressive meeting in Sihor town, around 40 km away from Bhopal. More than 80 per cent of participants were women, mostly agricultural workers and various scheme workers. They connected to the speeches made by jatha leaders. 

In the morning at a 'Meet the Press' held at Indore Press Club, Nilotpal Basu and Md Salim highlighted the danger of communal forces to the nation. Indore, which has been a hotbed for Hindu fundamentalist forces with most of the conspirators of Hindutva terror group coming from here, the CPI(M) leaders pointed out that internal security can be ensured when all citizens are made to live in harmony and security. Just buying up arms would not help, said Salim in reply to a question. And those who talk a lot about internal security, it is in their areas only where people are made to feel more insecure due to divisive policies.

Southern and Western Jatha enters Madhya Pradesh

On the fourth day after flag off, the Western Jatha entered Madhya Pradesh state on the afternoon of Monday, March 11 through Bharwani district bordering Maharashtra. The jatha was received at the border point by Party comrades from Madhya Pradesh state committee. Maharashtra state secretary Ashok Dhawale and AIKS state secretary Kisan Gujar accompanied the jatha till the border, from where they returned back. 

After the first meeting in Rajnagar in Bharwani district of Madhya Pradesh, again a tribal region, the jatha moved on to Mhow, the birthplace of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. After paying tributes to Ambedkar at the statue erected near his ancestral home, Yechury addressed the public meeting. He started by saying that one of the main intentions of the jatha is to underline the need for struggles to resolve the basic contradiction pointed out by Babasaheb Ambedkar when he presented the draft of Indian Constitution to the Constituent Assembly. Ambedkar had warned that unless socio-economic inequalities, where one man does not possess one value, are not removed, our political structure, where one man has one vote, will be blown asunder. Yechury said today socio-economic inequalities are growing at a fast pace in the country. He called for intensifying struggles against the neo-liberal economic policies that are the root cause of such growing inequality.

Earlier in the morning, the jatha's Maharashtra leg of the journey concluded with an impressive public meeting in Prakasha village in the tribal dominated Nandurbar district with over 4000 tribals attending it. As was recurrent through out this leg, tribal women dominated in numbers. The jatha was received few kilometres from Prakasha by a contingent of around 100 red volunteer motorcyclists.

As the convoy reached the venue, it was greeted by a large group of tribal men and women with traditional music and dance. The rhythmic beat from two huge drums, accompanied with howling sounds of the youth and the gracious steps of women, both old and young, charged the atmosphere. Yechury, Nilotpal Basu, Mohd Salim, Mariam Dhawale and Ashol Dhawale walked with the sloganeering crowd for around a kilometre to reach the venue. The leaders were given traditional tribal headgear before the start of the meeting. Yechury called upon the gathering to come and join the March 19 public meeting in Delhi which would give a clarion call for struggles to better the lives of common masses. Others also addressed the gathering.

At a press conference at the government rest house in Nandurbar town, Yechury said there is growing pressure from below within political parties that were pursuing neo-liberal economic policies to change course. He cited the case of Samajwadi party that had protested on the streets against FDI in retail but supported the government in parliament on the same issue. He said the struggles outside would help in forcing such parties leadership to change course.

The fourth day of jatha concludes with a public meeting in the night in Indore city.

Nagpur welcomed the Southern Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha with receptions at different points in the city on March 10. The first reception was at Khapri where the workers from Central Institute of Cotton Research, students, youth and women welcomed the Jatha. There were two other receptions in the city and comrades led the way in bikes. The Jatha vehicle was taken through the crowded streets of Nagpur to a hall meeting at the Shikshak Sahakari Bhavan. The meeting was addressed by the Jatha leaders. Over 500 people from all sections of society attended the hall meeting. Notably leaders of other Left and Democratic Parties like CPI, Forward Bloc, All India Bolshevik Party and the Republican Party of India also attended the meeting.

On 11th March the Jatha left early for Madhya Pradesh and travelled over 350 kilometres. The Jatha was received at Sosar on the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border by comrades. There were meetings at 3 places today, at Chhindwara, Kareli and Ghadwara in Narasinghpur District. At Kareli, the Jatha members marched for about a kilometre through the market place with slogan shouting comrades accompanying them. A press conference was held at Kareli. At Ghadarwara comrades were waiting despite the 4 hour delay in the arrival of the Jatha. M.A.Baby and Ramnarayan Kuraria Secretary, Madhya Pradesh Kisan Sabha addressed the gathering.

On the 12th of March the day began with a reception and meeting at Saalichowka in Narassinghpur District. Comrades received the Jatha with slogans and the beating of the “Dhol”. A meeting was held which was addressed by S.Ramachandran Pillai, Ramnarayan Kuraria and Salil Shukla CITU leader.

CPIM Madhyapradesh State Conference

Go to People, Intensify Result Oriented Struggles’

WE all want a strong and capable Lokpal but that this only can help us get rid of the corruption is a meek possibility. The Lokpal bill put forth by the government does not much inspire because the corporate houses, who are the biggest source of corruption, have been kept out of its purview. So said Prakash Karat at the 13th state conference of the CPI(M) in Madhya Pradesh, also stressing that the policies of the UPA-2 government are responsible for the excruciating price rises. In his address, he also referred to a host of other burning issues including the spate of farmers’ suicides in the country. 

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M), was in Rewa for inauguration of the three day state conference of the party at Yamuna Prasad Shastri Nagar from  December 26 to 28. He was addressing a public meeting at Padmadher Park in the city, which was preceded by a long and disciplined procession of party members and supporters. He said the CPI(M) is against the destructive policies of liberalisation which are leading to widespread corruption, increasing poverty and causing suicides.  He said that wherever a government of the BJP exists, it is mired in corruption, as in Karnataka, in Chhattisgarh or MP. In Karnataka, the BJP CM went to jail on charges of corruption. Just like the BJP, corruption is prevalent in Congress governments also. He said the CPI(M) and the Left supported the UPA-1 government in order to prevent the communal forces from staging a comeback to power, but the Left had to withdraw support due to the wrong and anti-people policies of the government which also bowed down before the US diktat and decided to enter a pact on atomic deal.

Prakash Karat also flayed the government’s adamant attitude on allowing FDI in retail trade that would deprive crores of people of their daily bread. Referring to the policies of the central government under the NDA and UPA, he said there is no difference between the Congress and the BJP as both are pro-corporate and pro-imperialist.

CPI(M) state secretary Badal Saroj also addressed the meeting, debunking the prejudiced, bankrupt and communal policies of the present state government and terming it as the most corrupt government ever in Madhya Pradesh. He described the way the lands of farmers from Dambhora to Lilji were being confiscated. Landless farmers and tribals are being displaced.  He said the CPI(M) would continue to fight in order to save the land of the people.

The public meeting was also addressed by Ram Narayan Kurariya, Pramod Pradhan, Sandhya Shaily and the CPI(M)’s Rewa district secretary Girijesh Singh Senger.  The attendance in public meeting was a subject of discussion in the city where people realised that the Shastri era of struggles is back again.

INAUGURAL SESSION

While inaugurating the 13th state conference of the CPI(M), Prakash Karat explained in detail the present international situation. He said it is clear from the agitation which started in the USA and spread over to 160 countries, that capitalism is unable to overcome its crisis. Those very people who were, at the fall of the USSR 20 years ago, saying that there was no alternative to capitalism, are today feeling the need of a new system which is against globalisation, liberalisation, privatisation policies. In the USA, Wall Street was gheraoed against the loot being perpetrated by the corporate world, while 13 out of 23 countries of Latin America today have governments which chose alternative paths of development other than the capitalist path. On the other hand, the US and other capitalist countries are planning to capture oil and other natural resources of other countries and attacking them for the purpose. After Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, now Iran is their target.

Describing the changed political scenario in India, the CPI(M) general secretary said the ruling classes are now targeting the Left and 417 comrades gave their life in West Bengal alone since Lok Sabha elections. He also made suggestions to develop work in the Hindi speaking states including Madhya Pradesh. 

A five member presidium comprising Ashok Tiwari, Budhsen Singh Gond, Ram Vilas Goswami, P N Mahore and Sandhya Shaily conducted the proceedings of the conference.

POLITICAL

REPORT

State secretariat member Jasbinder Singh presented the political report detailing the experience of struggles and its implementation.  The 55 page report dealt with the situation in MP in detail, referring to numerous burning issues after having briefed the international and national situation. The report dwelt on the ideological and psychological effects of liberalisation policies on a section of the working class and middle class, evaluated the activities of the NGOs and other political parties in the state and suggested five main tasks. On behalf of their respective delegations, 39 delegates joined in the discussion on this report.

The unanimously accepted report gave a call for result oriented struggles on local issues, a continuous political campaign and retrieval of mass organisations out of the rut of routinism in order to make them pro-struggle.

State secretary Badal Saroj placed a 41 page organisational report.  It dealt with class and mass organisations, their membership, the condition of branch functioning, review of functioning of the district and state committees and of the state centre, state of democratic centralism, priority sector and our experiences of education and ideological work, wholetimer and cadre policy, parliamentarism and chunavbaji, functioning of elected representatives and communist life style etc, in the light of the rectification document. The report took stock of work in the direction of progressive values and reform movements.  It also discussed the fund collection. As many as 36 delegates took part in the discussion on this report.

Giving the reason behind the tough self-critical reports placed in the conference, the state secretary said it was the part of an attempt to know why we could not use the opportunities that came to us. It was not a small thing if a small party emerged as the leader of the anti-displacement struggle, a leader of tribal agitations, a champion of workers’ unity and of women’s issues, if it took initiatives on the youth front. Many comrades kept the red flag flying high even in conditions of political alienation and heavy suppression, and took the party to so far untouched heights. It is clear that by changing our own functioning qualitatively, we may convert the people’s goodwill into a well organised political base in a short period, which is the need of hour.

Addressing the conference, CPI(M) Central Secretariat member Neelotpal Basu said Maoism has become a misleading noun nowadays. Maoists are working as tools in the hands of the bourgeoisie and imperialists against the organised Left. In Bengal, they are massacring the CPI(M) activists to the glee of the Congress, TMC and other anti-Left groups while home ministries in Delhi and Kolkata are sitting with eyes closed. The Hindi speaking areas and other areas must powerfully protest against this.

The 13th state conference of the CPI(M) concluded with the call to go to the people and intensify result oriented struggles on people’s issues. Re-elected state secretary Badal Saroj reiterated in his concluding speech that today’s conditions of the people’s anger against hunger, poverty and unemployment, their growing animosity towards the Congress, BJP and other bourgeois landlord parties and the worldwide developments which confirmed the continuing relevance of Marxism are favourable factors for the growth of the party and the mass organisations led by it. He said we must use it for development of the struggle on the people’s issues in the state.

The conference elected a 30-member state committee including 6 women. In its turn, the new state committee re-elected Badal Saraj as secretary with 9 other secretariat members. The conference also elected delegates to the all-India party congress.

On behalf of new state committee, Badal Saroj declared that in connection with the February 28 strike of central trade unions, a political campaign against the disastrous policies would be launched. There would also be statewide agitations on issues like displacement, hunger, health, price rise, atrocities against women, dalit, minority and tribal people, and on demands related to electricity, water and roads. He urged the party members and supporters to develop result oriented agitations on local issues as well.