CPI(M) mulls age ceiling for members of top bodies

The last influx of young leaders to Central Committee was in 1985, when Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat were inducted while in their 30s.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury addressing a press conference in Puducherry | File

In a bid to bring in fresh faces, the CPI(M) is planning to bring in an age ceiling for members of its decision-making bodies, from the State committees to the Central Committee (CC), and eventually the Polit Bureau too.

The idea was discussed during the three-day CC meeting that concluded on October 4. The CC's final report will be sent to the State committees and a concrete proposal, among other things, will take shape.

According to sources, during the debate on the issue, many members suggested a two-way age ceiling. One, there should be a retirement age for the members of all bodies, including the Polit Bureau; and second, no new member above a certain age should be inducted in any of the fora.

“This is the only way the average age can be brought down. We also have to figure out a way to put to use the vast experience of many of our senior members. We are looking at the models followed by Communist parties abroad,” a top leader said.

Polit Bureau age limit is 80

In the Polit Bureau, the current age limit is 80, but it has not been adhered to. S. Ramachandran Pillai (81) is the oldest member, while the youngest ones are 62-year old Mohammed Salim and Nilotpal Basu. Mr. Basu, along with 68-year-old Tapan Sen, was admitted to the Polit Bureau only last year.

The last influx of young leaders to the CC was in 1985 when current general secretary Sitaram Yechury and his predecessor Prakash Karat were inducted while in their 30s. No similar effort at that scale has been made since then.

The primary agenda of the CC meeting was to review the implementation of the measures suggested during the 2015 Kolkata party plenum. Among many measures, the plenum had proposed that the party needs to improve its age composition by ensuring that at least 20 percent of its total membership should be in the age bracket of below 31. This decision has had no visible impact on the party.

The last organisational report tabled in the April 2018 party congress in Hyderabad noted, “There is no improvement in the age composition of the party membership in many States. In fact, there is a decline in those below 31 years in States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Odisha between 2015-2017.”

Kerala is the only State to register a marginal increase in the percentage of youth among the party’s ranks.