ELECTORAL reverses or ruling class terror, nothing can prevent Red flag in West Bengal from marching forward. Brigade Parade Ground, scene of many historic rallies in Kolkata, stood witness to this fact again on March 8 with a massive rally of the CPI(M).

This year’s Brigade rally marks the inauguration of the 24th West Bengal state conference of the Party. For the last few days, numerous streets and walls of this state carried the call of ‘Brigade Cholo’ with posters and flexes. People and the Party activists made preparations to make this year’s Brigade a historic one.

Starting from early in the morning, people started gathering at the Brigade Parade Ground. A large number of people from the northern and distant districts of the state started reaching Kolkata for joining the rally from the evening of March 7. There were makeshift shelters arranged by the Party to provide them a place to rest at night. Yet Sealdah and Howrah stations were overcrowded throughout the night. Some of the enthusiastic comrades even rested at the Brigade Parade Ground itself. People from the southern districts started coming to Kolkata from early in the morning. People came in rallies from Sealdah and Howrah railway stations to the Brigade in the morning on March 8. There were two other large rallies, one from Jadavpur and the other one was from the South 24 Parganas. As people rallied from Park Circus and Rasbehari, the streets were all clogged by Brigade bound people. They marched toward Brigade with great spirit and the red flag held high. But Brigade was already packed with people from other districts and from far off places. Rural poor along with urban people thronged the ground in large numbers.

Cultural activists from all over the state performed to mark the beginning of the 24th state conference. CPI(M) leadership Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Biman Basu, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Suryakanta Mishra, Bijan Dhar, Md Salim and other Left Front leaders had reached the ground by then.

The meeting of lakhs of people started with the entire rally paying homage to all the martyrs by observing a minute of silence.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Polit Bureau member of the Party presided over the public meeting. He started with welcoming those people who had attended this year’s Brigade fighting relentlessly against all odds unleashed by the ruling party and the administration. He sharply criticised the state rulers as a barbaric force running the government. He gave a call to mount popular resistance on this government.

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M) addressing the public meeting said that today the country is faced with an adverse situation where the government is working for the multi-millionaires and the corporates. People’s unity is being dismantled by forces with communal, vicious motives. He said the issue of cow slaughter was being raised to target the minorities in the country.

Poor working class people’s existence is in deep distress. Highlighting the menace that is prevailing in the state of West Bengal, he said the living condition of the people is getting worse day by day in the hands of the corrupt TMC government. Mamata Banerjee’s government is not synonymous with transparency but with dishonesty, loot and exploitation. The massive turnout in the rally itself speaks of the people’s dissatisfaction with this government. Karat also blamed the TMC for providing an opportunity to the BJP to make inroads in West Bengal. “In the 24 years, the CPI(M) and Left Front was in power there was no place for the BJP and the RSS in Bengal,” he added.

Karat called for strengthening of the CPI(M) and pointed out that unless the Party was made strong, the Left forces will not be able to confront the neo-liberal and communal forces. The strengthened CPI(M) will help to develop Left and Democratic Front which is the real alternative for the toiling people.

Referring to the huge turnout at the rally, the CPI(M) general secretary said those who said that the CPI(M) and Left Front were on its way out in Bengal should take a note of the lakhs of people gathered here. “Our Party, the CPI(M) and the Left Front, is on firm footing here to take on the gunda-raj and corruption of the TMC and the communal politics of the BJP,” he added. Prakash Karat opened his speech with a tribute to fighting women in West Bengal as the day marked the International Women’s Day.

Biman Basu welcomed the huge gathering with the message of resistance, and said that, come what may, the Left activists have to resist in the face of the brutal attacks unleashed by those who are in the state government. Basu then underlined the importance of not allowing any breathing space to the communal forces like the RSS and its prime ally, the BJP.

Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member of the Party said that the history of human civilization is of resistance against the dictatorial regimes. He said the red flag won its distinction in the struggle against anything undemocratic. He cautioned Mamata Banerjee and Modi that the message of the huge gathering is very clear that there will be the red flag opposing them, facing whatever situation may come. Referring to the prime minister’s remark that the Left has become irrelevant in the parliament, Sitaram Yechury said ‘Lefts will never be irrelevant as long as there will be inequality among human kind” and pointed to the acceptance of a recent amendment moved by the Left to the motion of thanks to the president’s speech in the Rajya Sabha.

The leader of the opposition and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Surjakanta Misra said that people create history and we are here because of you who have attended the Brigade rally in such a big number. He said that secularism is under attack in West Bengal. Even VHP and such other organisations are organising ‘Ghar Wapsi’ programmes. We therefore are facing a double-edged attack, so we must unite, he said. People must unite under the red flag. Suryakanta Misra demanded that all culprits in chit fund scams should be brought to book and money returned to those who were cheated. He wondered whether the Modi government is at all interested in a proper inquiry of the scam.

Rekha Goswami and Md Salim also addressed the rally.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee concluded the rally with the message of taking the ongoing struggle forward.

West Bengal State Conference Begins

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has emphasised on working out concrete ways to fight against communal forces in all spheres of the society. Mass and class organisations have to enter into ideological, educational, cultural, social areas to effectively counter the influence of Hindutva forces in particular.

Karat inaugurated the 24th West Bengal state conference of CPI(M) on March 9, at Promode Dasgupta Bhavan, Kolkata. Delegate session of the conference started this morning after a massive open rally at Brigade Parade Ground on March 8. The conference is held from March 8-13.

Karat hoisted the Red flag in the lawn, decorated by portraits of departed leaders. Biman Basu read out the condolence resolution. After the last state conference, 106 Left leaders, activists and supporters were killed by ruling party miscreants in the state. Karat and other Polit Bureau members offered floral tributes at the martyrs’ column.

Polit Bureau members Sitaram Yechury, S Ramachandran Pillai, Brinda Karat, Manik Sarkar, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee , Nirupam Sen, Suryakanta Misra were present in the conference. CPI(M) Tripura state committee secretary Bijan Dhar and Assam state secretary Uddhav Burman also attended the conference.

Explaining the national situation, Karat said, it is evident in the last nine months that Modi government will not hesitate in ushering full-fledged attack on people. They are determined to transfer wealth to big capital, giving huge concessions to corporates, cut down welfare measures, and cut subsidies in social sectors. They have initiated the process of curtailing food security. In the budget, huge cut in allocations for welfare sectors are for all to see.

Prakash Karat said, the RSS has now found a golden opportunity to push their Hindutva agenda. Unlike the Vajpayee government, they are now not only intervening but also coordinating the policies of the government. Coordination committees with ministries have been formed. The RSS will try more and more to carry forward the Hindutva ideology in a planned way.

While reiterating Party’s commitment to fight communal forces, Karat said, there are certain weaknesses in our fight against communal forces. We fought against BJP electorally, sometimes aligning with other secular regional parties. BJP may be defeated but RSS continues with their work in schools, slums and other social spheres. We sometimes have ignored their influence as it was not seen politically. We have to work out concrete tactical line and class and mass organisations should start working in all these sectors. Karat reminded that RSS rightly identifies Communists as their greatest adversary and will concentrate on West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura in particular.

He said that the third important pillar of the rightwing offensive is imperialism. He said, Modi government will be more pro-imperialist than its predecessors. US imperialism is already working for a quadruple alliance with India, Japan and Australia, mainly to contain China. Right now, in all the three countries, the governments are rightwing. Modi government has already started surrendering to US pressure on patents and drugs etc.

Karat said, the main fight is against the BJP. We will have to fight against neo-liberal policies and communalism simultaneously. We will continue to fight against the Congress which has introduced neo-liberalism, abetted corruption and created conditions for the BJP’s rise. We will also fight against regional parties pursuing neo-liberal policies in respective states.

To carry forward the fight and advance, Karat emphasised on the independent strength of the Party. He said, united actions with other parties on peoples’ issues are necessary for expanding independent strength too. By strengthening CPI(M), we will endeavor to build Left and democratic alliance. 

Recalling West Bengal’s contribution to the growth of Party’s strength in and outside parliament, Karat said, the reverses suffered would have to be overcome by rectifying organisational weaknesses and through struggles.

State secretary Biman Basu placed the draft political-organisational report in the afternoon session. The report has dealt with political situation in the state, the terror unleashed against the Left forces, the hard-fought battles to defend the peoples’ rights and self-critically reviewed the organisational activities. The main thrust in the report is strengthening Party’s bond with people.

A presidium consisting of Md Salim, Raghunath Kushari, Banani Biswas, Kanti Biswas, Pulinbehari Baske and Saman Pathak was elected.