The 25th state conference of West Bengal unit of CPI(M) began at the Pramode Dasgupta Bhawan, renamed after Comrade Mohd. Amin Nagar and Karl Marx Mancha at 10.30 am in the morning on March 5.  Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury hoisted the Red Flag as the Internationale was played in the background. This was followed by the laying of wreaths at the martyrs’ altar by the Polit Bureau members Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, MA Baby, Biman Basu, Surjyakanta Misra, Brinda Karat; Central Committee members Dipak Dasgupta, Madan Ghosh, Sridip Bhattacharya, Mridul De, Minati Ghosh, Rekha Goswami and the district secretaries. Hundreds of Party activists raised slogans. This was followed by a brief speech by Sitaram Yechury wherein he elucidated the significance of the Red Flag which is tinged with the blood of the martyred comrades. He said the red flag of the communists is the harbinger of a new dawn for mankind. The evolution of the future of human civilization is closely linked with the red flag. When the Leftists raise their fists to Lal Salam they resolve to make this earth a better place for the have-nots, exploited and the marginalised. He said that if the Left movement has to expand all over India, the participation of the leadership of West Bengal is an absolute necessity. He said that this year is of immense importance because the world is celebrating the bicentenary of Karl Marx, 150 years of the composition of Das Capital and 100 years of the October Revolution. Leftists will have to organise movements against the present oppressive situation and discuss ways and means to bring in a new economic order.

While delivering the inaugural address at the  conference, Yechury focused on increasing the independent strength of the Party, gain in the capacity of its political intervention and intensification of democratic movement to defeat terror, attacks on democracy and communal polarisation unleashed by the central government and the state government of West Bengal. In his inaugural speech in the delegate session, Yechury elucidated on the four major attacks unleashed on the people – onslaught of neoliberalism, aggressive communal attack, undermining parliament and constitutional rights and turning the country into a subordinate ally of US imperialism. On the one hand, global capitalism has not been able to come out from the global financial crisis and is drowning into a deeper crisis, even after several measures for coming out from that. Profit maximisation efforts of global capitalism are resulting in severe exploitation of common people, especially the toiling masses. In India, the Modi government is aggressively collaborating with mechanisms for profit maximisation. The previous Congress government has started them but the Modi government is intensifying them, he said. Demonetisation, introduction of GST and the FRDI bill have been executed to ‘bail in’ the ruling class to serve the interests of international finance capital.

Aggressive communal attack has led to a situation where the study of Indian history is being replaced by the study of Hindu mythology or the study of Indian philosophy is being replaced by Hindu theology, hr said. Parliament is being undermined following the Gujarat model when Modi used to be the CM, he said further. All other parliamentary bodies are also being undermined. The space for right to express is also shrinking rapidly and the State is on the way to become a surveillance State.

He focused on the grave situation of West Bengal where besides terror, attacks on democracy and financial scams, appeasement of minority fundamentalism has become a feature of the ruling party, the TMC.  He said, TMC is not only helping communal forces to consolidate but creating an atmosphere of competitive communalism which, in turn, is strengthening the BJP in West Bengal.

Sitaram Yechury expressed optimism that this conference will help in revamping the Party organisation to match with its aim of building a revolutionary party with a mass line.