CPI-M admits failures at all levels in Bengal

Kolkata: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), leader of the alliance voted out of power in West Bengal, has confessed it was unable to produce ideal Communists.

"We could not groom ideal Communist leaders and workers," state CPI-M secretary Biman Bose said after an in-depth analysis of the party-led Left Front's electoral defeat in May.

The election, which brought the Trinamool Congress to power, ended 34 long years of Communist rule.

Writing in the special issue of the party's Bengali publication 'Desh Hitaishi', Bose identified several shortcomings in the party's programmes, organisation and in implementing decisions taken in committee meetings.

He also spoke of attitudinal deficiencies, from the state committee level up to the lowermost branch committee stage, and asked party workers to strengthen the organisation.

"We failed to work from the state level to the lowermost branch tier with the attitude required and in the way we should have rallied the people around," the party's politburo member said.

He said the party failed to consolidate unity among the rural poor, making it a victim of a misinformation campaign conducted by the Trinamool, the Congress and the Socialist Unity Centre of India.

He said the CPI-M failed to learn from the setbacks in the 2008 Panchayat polls and did not lay emphasis on the need to cater to the rural poor.

In urban areas, the party did not organise movements in the interest of marginalised sections.

"The sum total of all these mistakes was that a section of the poor people got confused and veered away from us."

He admitted shortcomings in the methodology needed for running a Communist party form the viewpoint of classes.

"We have, time and again, taken decisions on running the party and imbuing party cadres with the right Communist spirit," he said. "But there were several fields where it could not be made effective."

Speaking of a lack of communication from the top to the bottom, Bose said: "We have to do lot of soul-searching to launch a continuous struggle for increasing the acceptability of our party to the masses."

He said while the party organisation betrayed slackness, the reluctance and inactivity among a section of party members on specific issues weakened its strength in launching struggles.

"After the defeat in the assembly polls, leaders, members and close associates of the party are somewhat disappointed," he said.

"We have to stress activating the committees at all levels and sensitising the members to raise its capacity to launch struggles."

Calling for collective functioning at all levels, Bose regretted the drawbacks at district secretariat level and below.

He said he was confident the Trinamool regime would fall one day. However, "we cannot foretell like astrologers how long this situation will continue".

"The most important work now is to strengthen the party organisation and raise the consciousness of party leaders and workers."