CPM expanded state committee meeting: Leadership equation under focus

KOZHIKODE: As Kozhikode prepares to host the three-day CPM expanded state committee meeting, all eyes are on whether the intense discussions over the party's election defeat will lead to changes in its leadership and functioning. The meeting will be held from the 13th to 15th at the A.K.G. Auditorium at the CPI(M) office in Kozhikode.

In addition to the Politburo members from Kerala, four other Politburo members will attend the meeting as full-time observers. Central Committee members from Kerala, state secretariat and state committee members, district secretariat members, and office-bearers of various class and mass organisations will also participate. This will be the third CPM expanded state committee meeting, following similar meetings in Bengal and Tripura. The meeting will conclude with a mega rally at Kozhikode Beach, with the party planning to mobilise one lakh people.

Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan and state secretary M.V. Govindan are seeking to protect the existing party structure without major changes. However, the positions taken by the four Politburo members attending as observers- K. Balakrishnan, B.V. Raghavulu, Ashok Dhawale and Viju Krishnan- are expected to be crucial.

Although Pinarayi Vijayan's style of functioning came under criticism following the election defeat, the CPM state committee identified organisational weakness as the main reason for the setback. There was also criticism that party workers had become indifferent even during the election campaign. The house-to-house campaign also failed to make an impact.

The opposition camp within the party is seeking to put the state leadership on the defensive by highlighting the section titled “Organisational reasons for the decline” in the review report approved by the Central Committee.

Criticism has intensified that, instead of reaching out to the people, the party secretary became too immersed in theoretical reviews and had effectively been reduced to Pinarayi Vijayan's shadow, contributing to the party's major election defeat. The election defeat has been discussed several times, from the Politburo to the state committee. Against this backdrop, a large section of party workers hopes the intense deliberations at the expanded state committee meeting will bring change in the party's leadership and functioning.