A&N: CPI(M) State Conference Resolves to Strengthen Its Base
D Ayyappan
THE 12th Andaman and Nicobar State Conference of the CPI(M) was held in Port Blair on December 28-29, 2024, with a resolution to strengthen the Party and its mass organisations in the islands. The conference began on December 28 with a big procession, followed by a public meeting at Tiranga Park. Hundreds of Party workers and sympathizers participated in the procession.
Inaugurating the public meeting, G Ramakrishnan, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member highlighted that the CPI(M) is the only party in the country that conducts conferences democratically and elects new committees from the branch level up to the Central Committee. He criticised the Modi government’s policies for pushing more people into poverty while offering massive tax concessions to corporates like Adani and Ambani. He also warned of the BJP’s promotion of Hindutva ideology to divide people along communal lines and noted that the BJP avoids acknowledging the role of Dr B R Ambedkar.
Sujan Chakraborty, former MP and Central Committee member, addressed the meeting, recalling the hundreds of revolutionaries who were deported to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, imprisoned in the Cellular Jail, and killed by the British. He accused the Modi government of working solely in the interest of corporates, representing just 1 per cent of the population, while neglecting the remaining 99 per cent of ordinary citizens.
D Ayyappan, secretary of the Andaman and Nicobar state organising committee, provided an overview of the ongoing Party conferences across the country. Nikunjo Biswas, state secretariat member, also addressed the gathering. B Chandrachoodan, chairman of the Reception Committee, presided over the meeting and welcomed the participants, while D Laxman Rao, state secretariat member, proposed the vote of thanks.
The delegate session of the state conference was held on December 29, 2024, at Atul Smriti Samiti (Bengali Club), Port Blair, with the hoisting of the Party flag by senior leader B Chandrachoodan. Delegates paid floral tributes to the martyrs at the Martyrs Memorial Column. A condolence resolution was moved by Rahul Dev Mridha, and a one-minute silence was observed in memory of those who passed away since the last state conference.
A presidium consisting of D Laxman Rao, Ramjeeban Sarkar, and Nikunjo Biswas was elected to conduct the proceedings of the conference. B Chandrachoodan, welcomed the delegates to the conference. Sujan Chakraborty inaugurated the delegate session. In his address, he highlighted the increasing unemployment and the growing poverty over the last 78 years of independence. Referring to the ongoing farmers’ agitation, he noted that farmers had been protesting on the roads for over a year, with the central government refusing to engage in dialogue with them. He condemned the fascistic governance in India and demanded the establishment of a legislative assembly for the Union Territory of A&N Islands, modelled after the Pondicherry system, to end bureaucratic rule in the islands.
D Ayyappan presented the political-organizational report, which covered the political situation in the country and the islands, as well as the functioning of the CPI(M) since the last state conference in March 2022. Delegates from different parts of the islands participated in the discussion on the report, which was later adopted unanimously. P Sathyapal, finance in-charge, presented the audited accounts of the Party for the last three years. Resolutions on several issues were discussed and adopted during the conference.
Addressing the delegate session, G Ramakrishnan called upon Party cadre to continue working hard to expand the Party’s base in the union territory. He emphasized the need to strengthen Party committees at all levels across the islands. Referring to the 23rd Party Congress held in Kannur, Kerala, in April 2022, which set out the task of increasing the Party’s independent strength, he stressed that the CPI(M) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands also needs to be strengthened. He criticised the NDA government for failing to complete the construction of the 350 km NH4 in the islands over the past ten years.
The delegate session adopted a document titled Tasks for the Next Three Years with the aim of strengthening the CPI(M) in the islands. The two-day state conference concluded with the election of a new 19-member state organizing committee, with D Ayyappan being re-elected as secretary. An 8-member state secretariat was also elected, and D Ayyappan was elected as the delegate for the 24th Party Congress, which is scheduled to be held in April 2025 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Seventy-three delegates and observers, including six women, attended the conference. Of these, 68 submitted completed credential forms. The delegates and observers included farmers, workers, shopkeepers, retired government employees, and others. Forty-one delegates/observers had studied up to Class X, while 11 had studied up to Class XII. Eleven delegates/observers were graduates, and five had post-graduate qualifications.
SP Kalairajan, secretary of the Reception Committee, proposed the vote of thanks.
As part of the conference, wide publicity was carried out across the islands, including banners and flex boards in the north and middle Andaman and South Andaman districts, as well as through social media. Small group meetings with Party workers, sympathizers, and functionaries of mass organisations were held in various parts of Port Blair town and rural South Andaman in the weeks leading up to the mass procession and public meeting.
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