NEW DELHI: Once a Left bastion, West Bengal now has only 26,832 persons who remain signed up as card-bearing members of the Communist Party of India, the mother ship of the Left movement from which the CPM parted ways in 1964. The membership statistics were released as part of the working report of the CPI at CPI’s 24th Party Congress underway in Vijaywada.
Not surprisingly, CPI’s highest membership numbers come from the only state where the Left is still in power, Kerala, where the party has 1.67 lakh members.
The significantly weakened party, both in terms of its electoral strength and membership numbers, has a total of 6.5 lakh members as of 2021, of which 1.13 lakh are in Tamil Nadu, followed by Bihar with 78,912 and Telangana with 78,032 members.
The hosts of CPI’s 24th Party Congress, Andhra Pradesh, is the fifth in line with 51,666 members, while Punjab has 20,194 members and Odisha 19,747.
Tripura, another state where the Left government was in power for several decades until it was unseated by the BJP in 2018, the party’s strength is down to 937 members. Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep, with 288 and 161 members each, are the only two states behind Tripura.
Pointing to the steady decline of the party’s strength, the working report of the CPI submitted at the party congress pointed out that in many states the party’s strength is so far depleted that the branch committee, which is the lowest level organisational entity of the CPI, is unable to meet even once every year. As a result of this laid-back approach, the report says, CPI often finds it difficult to identify and appoint polling agents when the time comes for the elections.
The sharp decline notwithstanding, CPI has attempted to take an ideological high ground, exhorting secular, democratic parties to take a Left-of-Centre stance to cement a principled unity against the RSS and the BJP.
The five-day party congress will also elect the next party general secretary. While Raja is seeking reelection, there appears to be a groundswell of support for the candidature of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) general secretary Amarjeet Kaur, the first woman in Independent India to be at the helm of one of the central trade unions. If elected as general secretary of the CPI, Kaur will also become the first woman general secretary of the CPI.
Not surprisingly, CPI’s highest membership numbers come from the only state where the Left is still in power, Kerala, where the party has 1.67 lakh members.
The significantly weakened party, both in terms of its electoral strength and membership numbers, has a total of 6.5 lakh members as of 2021, of which 1.13 lakh are in Tamil Nadu, followed by Bihar with 78,912 and Telangana with 78,032 members.
The hosts of CPI’s 24th Party Congress, Andhra Pradesh, is the fifth in line with 51,666 members, while Punjab has 20,194 members and Odisha 19,747.
Tripura, another state where the Left government was in power for several decades until it was unseated by the BJP in 2018, the party’s strength is down to 937 members. Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep, with 288 and 161 members each, are the only two states behind Tripura.
Pointing to the steady decline of the party’s strength, the working report of the CPI submitted at the party congress pointed out that in many states the party’s strength is so far depleted that the branch committee, which is the lowest level organisational entity of the CPI, is unable to meet even once every year. As a result of this laid-back approach, the report says, CPI often finds it difficult to identify and appoint polling agents when the time comes for the elections.
The sharp decline notwithstanding, CPI has attempted to take an ideological high ground, exhorting secular, democratic parties to take a Left-of-Centre stance to cement a principled unity against the RSS and the BJP.
The five-day party congress will also elect the next party general secretary. While Raja is seeking reelection, there appears to be a groundswell of support for the candidature of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) general secretary Amarjeet Kaur, the first woman in Independent India to be at the helm of one of the central trade unions. If elected as general secretary of the CPI, Kaur will also become the first woman general secretary of the CPI.