THE Kerala state conference of the CPI(M) that took place in connection with the 23rd Party Congress to be held  at Kannur from April 6-10, 2022, was convened from March 1-4,  at Marine Drive, Cochin. The conference took place in an atmosphere of euphoria and festivity as it was the first state conference held after the LDF ensured a historic continuity in government for the first time in the history of the state. The emotional tone was accentuated by the fact that it was taking place after the third wave of the pandemic, which was also the most widespread and gripped almost every part of the state, had subsided , and people were able to move out of their shelters and meet and interact with one another in person.

The determination and steadfastness with which the LDF government and the CPI(M) were able to rally the people as a whole to combat the most disastrous flood of the century during 2018 and the adverse effects of the torrential rains of the subsequent year, the Nipah virus and the damage caused by the pandemic that made its first appearance in India at Trichur, were clearly evident. Not only was the state government, with its powerful public health apparatus, able to contain the impact of Covid and minimise the number of deaths to the lowest levels all over India,  it was also able to contain the social havoc caused by the pandemic through well-organised public education campaigns, development of a volunteer corps with the full-fledged assistance of the local self governments for urgent remedial action and care in the afflicted areas,  a public distribution system that ensured that no one will go undernourished and starved, including the two million migrant labourers in various parts of the state.

After setting an example for disaster management, the government was able to go one step further by announcing a Rebuild Kerala Initiative, with plans that would not only revive disaster afflicted Kerala, but also lay the infrastructure for a new Kerala, that would sustain Kerala’s economy and livelihood of the Kerala people and transform it by making use of the recent advances in science and technology as well as innovative modes in industry and agriculture. The LDF government was able to do all this in the wake of the mounting attacks by the central government on federalism and democracy along with the virulent anti-communism of the Modi government aimed to hinder the functioning of the state government at every point. The UDF led by the Congress were functioning in tune with the stance taken by the Modi government, so that the UDF and BJP formed a virtual united front against the LDF. The resounding victory of the LDF showed that the people recognised and endorsed the standpoint of the LDF and rejected the high pitched rhetoric unleashed by the opposition and media against the state government, charging it of corruption on the basis of unfounded facts and deliberate lies. 

THE CONFERENCE

CPI(M) began organising its conferences from the branch level after the elections, and was inspired by the mandate given by the people to the policies of the CPI(M) and the LDF.  CPI(M) was able to resolve the factional differences that had plagued the Party in the past.  The conferences leading up to the state conference at Cochin saw the further process of unification from the branch level upwards. Not only were the conferences concluded without any serious dissent or dissatisfaction, the process also ensured that an unprecedented number of women and youth were brought into important Party positions. 1991 branch secretaries are women, and the number of women increased at every level and at least one woman was elected into all the district secretariats. There was a similar increased representation of the youth, including students, minorities, dalits and adivasis in the conferences. This was reflected in the composition of the delegates elected to the state conference, in which 23 per cent were aged below 30.  The conference was also marked by increased number of women delegates and the delegate of the lowest age, 20, was also a woman.  

The conference was inaugurated on August 1, by Party general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, who spoke about the contemporary international and national situation. He also forcefully underlined the necessity to adopt clear political tactics that would isolate and defeat the BJP, and argued that the CPI(M) in Kerala , which is the backbone of the Left and Democratic movement in India, has a major role to play in the fight against the growing authoritarian and fascistic tendencies.  Such a fight is possible only with the emergence of a viable Left and democratic alternative, which is what the CPI(M)  and the LDF in Kerala have embarked upon. 

The political organisational report of the work done by the Party since the last conference was presented by Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Party state secretary. The document on the Party’s perspective regarding the New Kerala was presented by Pinarayi Vijayan, Party Polit Bureau member and chief minister of the state. 43 comrades participated in the discussion on the report and the criticisms and queries that they made were suitably replied by the state secretary. 29 comrades participated in the discussion on the perspective document and questions raised were ably answered by the chief minister. 17 resolutions were discussed and adopted by the conference. 

POL-ORG REPORT  

The political organisational report consisted of four parts. The first dealt with the Party organisation; second presented the perspective on New Kerala, which was presented and discussed separately; third part dealt with class and mass organisations; and the fourth consisted of appendices, that included various supportive documents and reports. The report outlined the increase in membership, number of branches and local committees, when compared to the previous conference period. There has also been an increase in the number of women, students and youth brought to the Party. The membership of the Party now comes to 5,27,289. The increase of women membership to 25 per cent of the total, as directed by the Kolkata Plenum has been achieved in two districts, and several other districts are well on the way to achieve this.  There has been an increase in the class and mass organisation membership, which when collected together comes to more than one crore. The membership consists mainly of the basic classes, but the Party’s influence among the middle classes and minorities has also been increasing. 

The report noted with satisfaction that the factionalism that had bedevilled the Party for several decades has been completely overcome.  The state leadership now stands fully united, and unification has been achieved in most of the district and area committees also.  There are a few comrades within the Party who carry the vestiges of the old factionalism and try to spread their influence within a few isolated area committees, trying to keep them as pockets of influence but they have been unable to influence the decision making in the district conferences. As a result, all the district committees were elected unanimously.  The report noted that this unification augurs well for the future, in a period when the Party gears up to take up the responsibility of building a new Kerala.

The process of unification has been further demonstrated by the strong position that the Party adopted regarding the selection of candidates for the assembly elections and the appointment of ministers. In order to contain parliamentarism within the Party, the Party took the stand that no MLA who has been elected for two consecutive terms be re-nominated irrespective of the position he or she held within the Party. The Party also decided to field a number of young Party members including women. Although this stand evoked some discussion in the media, it was wholeheartedly welcomed by the Party members as well as the general public. Those for whom this position was not fully acceptable were forced to acquiesce as a result of the mass support given to this position. The same norm continued in the case of selection of ministers and a fresh group were sworn in as ministers, with the exception of the chief minister, designated to lead the cabinet. 

The report noted with concern some weaknesses and shortcomings that had crept into the Party. One was parliamentary opportunism, which raised its head during the assembly and local self government elections. There have been stray cases of announcing one’s candidature through the social media and refusing to co-operate when the Party decision favoured another. The report advocated stern action and strict vigilance against such recalcitrant elements. There have also been isolated incidents of susceptibility to alcohol, and narcotics and indecent behaviour towards women. The report also stressed very strict vigilance regarding such deviations. The report also stressed the adherence to the decisions taken in the state plenum at Palakkad during 2013 which had emphasized a thorough rectification process in Party functioning.

The Kolkata Plenum of 2015 had drawn attention to the relevance of a systematic process of Party education at all levels, and the use of numerous facilities set up by the Party including AKG Centre for Studies and Research, EMS Academy, the district-wise study centres (Patana kendrams) and the recently set up Nayanar Memorial Academy. The report noted with satisfaction the progress made in Party education, by conducting Party schools and classes at all levels. The Party education campaign continued even under the severe restrictions of the pandemic using online facilities, and some on-line classes were provided to as many as 1.50 lakhs of Party members. The Party classes were generally organised under the EMS Academy, which also took the initiative in organising a workshop against the right-wing deviation in Kerala society.

The report stressed the significance of uniting the secular, democratic forces against the challenge raised by the right wing forces including the RSS, political Islamists and other obscurantist forces with whom the UDF has been collaborating openly. The challenge becomes all the more significant as even when the LDF was returned to power in 2021, it could get only 45 per cent of the votes, which indicated that the majority of the population still remained outside its sphere of influence. Any attempt at ensuring that LDF gets more than 50 per cent of the vote share is possible only by increasing the independent sphere of influence of the Party, which is possible through an all-out campaign against the right wing forces, by spreading rational thought, scientific temper and historical consciousness. This also indicates that the Party should maintain and strengthen its close links with the masses, learning from it and in its turn leading the masses in mass struggles and ideological campaigns, a point stressed in the Kolkata Plenum document. The report also commented upon the some of the initiatives adopted by it in this regard. The Party recruited 1,073 volunteers to function as social development officers (SDOs) who were to move to areas where the Party was weak outside their own districts and help build the Party there. However, this decision did not go well with the Party committees in such areas, although it yielded positive results wherever the SDOs were able to function. Each Party member was allotted ten households within their branch borders with whom he or she has to maintain regular contact, apprising them of the Party and government decisions and helping them in their hours of need. This also proved effective wherever the directions were implemented in full spirit.

The report concluded by announcing a 30-point future programme to be implemented by the Party after the state conference, coordinating with the programmes of the government.

PERSPECTIVE FOR A NEW KERALA

The perspective document presented in the conference consisted of four parts: The first summarizes previous activities in the area from the first resolution on Kerala’s development adopted by the Trichur Conference of the Party in 1956 in the wake of the formation of the Kerala state to the present; The second part reviews the activities of the  LDF government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan from 2016 to 2021; the third part outlines the future programme for building a new Kerala  and the fourth part outlines the Party’s tasks in this regard. It is not possible to provide a full outline of the document in the given limited space but the main points can be summarised as follows:

Agricultural development including the associated aquaculture and horticulture is an essential ingredient for ensuring food security and poverty alleviation as well as for developing expanded markets inside and outside the state. Although land reforms have been implemented in the state, this has not given rise to the much needed agrarian reforms. The emphasis of the agrarian development in Kerala has been on cash crops and the neo-liberal reforms initiated by the central government have adversely affected the development in this area also. There is need for all round agricultural development by using advanced forms of science and technology including bio-technology, and the development of a variety of value added products that can be marketed internally and abroad. There is also a need for experimenting with new forms of farming including co-operatives and integrated farming, development of mixed farming, including aquaculture, horticulture and forest products and also for the restoration of plantation crops. The state should also intervene in the marketing of agricultural products. An adequate public distribution system that would be inclusive of all sections of population, measures of alleviation of existing poverty would be part of the proposal.

Rapid industrial expansion is essential not only as a means of accentuating the gross domestic product but also as a means to provide employment for the rapidly growing job seekers in the state. The LDF government has already announced a plan to provide 20 lakhs of jobs in the state, and the jobs will have to be located in the sectors of IT, tourism, MSME, agro processing, and also through the revival of traditional industries like coir, cashew and handloom. The job creation will have to be by means of start-ups in a wide variety of productive sectors, co-operative ventures, initiatives by self-help groups such as the Kudumbasree, private and government enterprises. Developing a large scale industrial corridor from Cochin to Palakkad is already under way. Linkages between co-operatives and local self governments are envisaged that would promote new productive ventures at the local level.

Infrastructural development is essential for any attempt to rebuild the Kerala economy. The first LDF government under Pinarayi Vijayan announced a series of projects for infrastructural development, including two highways and one water-channel that connected the entire Kerala and a standalone semi-high speed railway line, called K-Rail. A project for providing internet connections for ordinary people through fibre-optic network, called K-FON is also being implemented. Projects to enhance electricity production through all possible forms including solar panels have been suggested. Projects for the modernisation of all available roads are also under way. All these projects are attempted to be implemented in an environment-friendly manner ensuring that the livelihood of the people is affected the least. Simultaneously a variety of projects for the protection of environment are suggested, including waste management reduction, reduction of  carbo-fuel emissions, maintenance of forest and biodiversity cover, ensuring sanitation of the urban areas and tourist centres, renovation of rivers, and protection of the  coast line  through oceanic dykes and biowalling.  

Kerala is in the fore-front of general education and a massive campaign for building physical infrastructure in schools was made under the previous LDF Government. Curricular reforms to bring the school education in Kerala on par with the international standards have to be introduced. Higher education will have to be completely revamped to address the needs for skills and expertise among the new generation that ensures the growth of the necessary labour force and expertise that would be able to sustain the development of Kerala for a prolonged period in future and ensure the transformation of Kerala into a knowledge society. This would imply the transformation of existing colleges and universities, providing them with the necessary infrastructure and enhance the quality of education in the existing institutions, and also to develop new institutions in the government, co-operative sector, PPP and private sector that would set the pace of higher education to reach the highest level of advancement of knowledge and state of the art technologies in the pure sciences, social sciences and the professional sector. Similar advancement has to be envisaged in public health and modern medicine. The discipline of Ayurveda in which Kerala has contributed heavily, has to be given special care as a practical discipline that could attract world-wide attention and promote research in this area.

Fight against right wing ideologies and religious-caste obscurantism is of prime importance in every effort to build new Kerala.  This will include a variety of strategies to inculcate scientific temper, rational thought and historical consciousness among the people of Kerala with due emphasis in school curricula and in higher education. Mother tongue will be given due prominence both as the official language and the medium of instruction. Fight for a secular popular culture will be initiated both in the audio-visual and print media as well as the popular cultural centres, including the secularisation of popular art and cultural forms now controlled by the various religious fundamentalist agencies. Universal digital literacy to end digital illiteracy and to usher in all sections of population to the knowledge society will also be a major aim.

The proposals are made in the background of the anti-federal authoritarian economic and political measures being announced and implemented by the BJP led government at the centre. The state has been left with no other means for procuring the necessary finance for the proposed projects other than mobilising loans from different agencies on a large scale. With this objective in mind, the previous LDF government revived KIIFB started during 1996-2001 LDF government led by E K Nayanar and made it functional. Now a lion’s share of the financing of various Kerala projects has been through KIIFB. This form of financing is envisaged to continue in the near future also, although efforts to raise the internal finances through effective taxation measures and pressurise the central government to release more finances for projects will also continue.

The conference approved the draft after a day-long discussion in which a number of new suggestions and proposals were made. 

At the end of the conference, the delegates elected an 89-member state committee. The state committee met and elected Kodiyeri Balakrishnan as the secretary and a 17-member secretariat with eight new entrants.