THE 23rd CPI(M) Gujarat state conference began at Ahmedabad on March 23, 2022, the 91st martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, and it concluded on March 24 with great enthusiasm.

The venue of the conference was named as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. The conference was attended by 153 delegates from 10 districts of Gujarat. They included 28 women delegates.

The flag hoisting was done by state secretary Pragjibhai Bhabhi. After the floral tributes to martyrs and the condolence resolution, reception committee chairman Jenti Panchal, while welcoming the delegates, narrated the historic working class movements of Mahagujarat and the textile workers strikes of Ahmedabad.

The conference was inaugurated by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Nilotpal Basu, who outlined the grave political challenge posed by the BJP-RSS central and state governments before the country. This challenge has various dangerous aspects, like the neo-liberal and pro-corporate policy direction targeting the working class and the peasantry, the drive for communal polarisation, and the assaults on democracy, social justice, federalism and the Indian constitution. He called upon the Party in Gujarat to strengthen itself to meet this challenge. Central committee members Ashok Dhawale and Muralidharan also attended the conference. 

After the election of the presidium, resolutions committee and credentials committee, Pragjibhai Bhambhi placed the political report and Central Committee member Arun Mehta placed the organisational report. 33 delegates spoke on the political report and 29 delegates spoke on the organisational report. After the reply, the political-organisational report was unanimously adopted. The conference also adopted 11 resolutions on important issues.

In spite of the constant repressive attacks of the BJP state government, the Party and the class and mass fronts have led several struggles in Gujarat in the last four years. Some of them were recounted by the delegates. The CITU-led Anganwadi and ASHA workers have participated in big struggles for their demands. The AIKS and the SFI have grown during this period, and the AIDWA has also been active. Peasants, workers and students from Gujarat were the first from outside the frontline states of the historic farmers’ struggle to reach and stay at the Shahajahanpur border in December 2020 itself. However, the absence of the DYFI is a weakness that needs to be removed at the earliest. There is scope for all the other mass fronts to grow.

On March 23 evening, to mark the occasion of Martyrs Day, Ashok Dhawale spoke on the topic "India's Freedom Struggle and the Role of Shaheed Bhagat Singh”.

On March 24, after the credentials report was placed by Uday Joshi, the conference unanimously elected a 30-member state committee including seven women, three invitees and two special invitees, who were 82-year old Pragjibhai Bhambhi and 92-year old Babubhai Sheth. It also unanimously elected six delegates and two observers to the 23rd Party Congress. 

The state committee met and unanimously elected Hitendra Bhatt as the new state secretary and eight other members in the new state secretariat as follows: Arun Mehta, Nalini Jadeja, Ashok Sompura, Satish Parmar, Dayabhai Gajera, Purushottam Parmar, Batuk Makwana and K Ramachandran.

After brief speeches by the outgoing state secretary Pragjibhai Bhambhi, the incoming state secretary Hitendra Bhatt and by Arun Mehta, the concluding speech of the conference was delivered by Ashok Dhawale. While setting out the organisational improvements that needed to be made, he called for making the general strike and rural bandh on March 28-29 a success.

After the vote of thanks to the reception committee and the volunteers by Ahmedabad district secretary Satish Parmar, the conference ended with the Internationale.