CPI(M) area committee conferences begin

The organisational meet of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has entered a crucial phase with the commencement of its area committee conferences in the district.

These conferences will hold serious intra-party discussions and take up other issues, vis-à-vis the party’s relationship with Communist Party of India in the Left Democratic Front. This apart, these meetings will strictly adhere to the amendment adopted at the 20th Party Congress held in Kozhikode in April 2012 that fixed the tenure of secretaries at all levels to three terms.

2,410 branch panels

As many as 2,410 branch committees and 157 local committees have come into being following the organisational conferences that began in October.

The two-day Vadakara area committee meeting concluded on Monday.

15 area committees

The meetings of the 15 area committees, namely Feroke, Kozhikode South, Kozhikode Town, Kozhikode North, Kunnamangalam, Thiruvambady, Thamarassery, Kakkodi, Balussery, Koyilandy, Payyoli, Vadakara , Onchiyam, Nadapuram and Kunnammal, being held this month, will be monitored by the district secretariat.

The strength of an area committee would be between 17 and 19 members depending on the number of local committees.

Delegates for district committee meetings to be held in Vadakara on January 13, 14 and 15 will be elected at the area conferences.

The area committees are unlikely to see any bitter factionalism except for minor bickering in regions such as Koyilandy and Payyoli. However, the district leadership has apprehensions that the inclusion of new faces will disturb the existing party set-up as many seasoned leaders would have to step down out of compulsion.

Erosion of support base

The State committee has warned against using the area committees as a platform for any dissident activity. The party is already facing erosion in the support-base after the Bharatiya Janata Party assumed power at the Centre.

A senior party functionary said that the Lok Sabha elections had witnessed a groundswell of pro-Narendra Modi sentiment in the district as elsewhere in the State. But this artificially created wave had died down in the recent months.

“Many of the disgruntled workers at the lower-rungs might have shifted loyalties but our party base is still intact. Further, many from the opposition sides are joining us,” he said.