THE 24th Uttar Pradesh state conference of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was held from December 29-31, 2024 at Bulandshahr with the resolve to build a revolutionary communist party with a strong mass base in Uttar Pradesh.

The comrades of Bulandshahr had made elaborate preparations for the conference; the entire city was decorated with red flags and four-month long campaign for the conference and rally was conducted in 300 villages.

The venue of the conference was named after our beloved leader Comrade Sitaram Yechury, the meeting stage was named after former MLA Comrade Dinanath Singh, who was a member of the state secretariat; gates were named after Comrade Gulab Singh, Comrade KN Bhatt and Shridhar Sharma. 

The conference was inaugurated by Party Polit Bureau member and Coordinator Comrade Prakash Karat. In his address, he mentioned in detail two important ongoing international political developments – the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israeli genocide of Palestinians, and said that this is not an ordinary war. More than seventeen thousand children have been killed in Palestine. The imperialist power America is behind both of these wars. He said that China, the socialist powerhouse of the world, has achieved such a strength that it can compete easily with America, which arouses their insecurity. Criticising the Indian government's military assistance to Israel, he said that India has deviated from its established foreign policy.

He said that in our country there is a corporate-communal nexus spearheaded by the Modi government which is aggressively pursuing the policies of Hindutva communalism and liberalisation. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP did not get single party majority and INDIA bloc became stronger as the opposition. Yet this BJP government continues to attack the people, democracy and opposition. The way five people lost their lives in the Sambhal case is an example of how the government is targeting minorities. Prakash Karat underlined that in the coming days, along with increasing the unity of the Left parties, we need to increase our independent strength. Besides, there is a need to strengthen the mass organisations.

The presidium and other committees of the conference were elected in this session. The presidium comprised Mukut Singh, Madhu Garg and BL Bharti.

In the same session, Arvind Raj Swaroop, state secretary of the Communist Party of India and Sudhakar Yadav, state secretary of CPI (ML)-Liberation, greeted the conference.

Before this, Party flag was hoisted by senior comrade, DP Singh. The delegates offered floral tributes at the martyr's column.

DELEGATE SESSION

The delegate session began on December 30, in which Uttar Pradesh state secretary Hiralal Yadav presented the political-organisational report. 63 delegates from 45 districts participated in the discussions on the report. After the reply to the discussions by the state secretary, the report was adopted unanimously.

The conference passed resolutions on the deepening agricultural crisis; the impact of neoliberal economic policies; against inflation; the deteriorating conditions of rural workers; on growing crimes against women and girls in Uttar Pradesh; on the National Education Policy; against dalit oppression; against communalism; against increasing unemployment and against privatisation of electricity.

Out of a total of 236 delegates, 212 delegates participated in the conference, out of which four delegates were below 25 years of age. The oldest representative was 81 years old. There were a total of 19 women representatives.  99 representatives were workers and poor farmers. 31 were from the middle class farmers. A total of 42 whole-timers were participating in the conference.

At the beginning of the conference, Meghraj Solanki, chairman of the reception committee, welcomed the delegates.

A 35-member state committee was elected in the conference with two seats left vacant.

The new state committee elected Ravi Shankar Mishra as the state secretary, and also elected an 11-member secretariat. Nine delegates were also elected at the conference for the 24th Congress of the Party.

In the concluding session, Central Committee member Vikram Singh addressed the delegates. The concluding speech was given by Polit Bureau member Subhashini Ali.

PUBLIC MEETING 

The conference started on December 29 with a public meeting in which thousands of people from the rural areas of Bulandshahr participated in large numbers despite extremely bad weather and change in the venue of the meeting due to the administration not granting permission for the pre-selected and publicised meeting venue.

The meeting was addressed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Subhashini Ali, MP and Central Committee member Amra Ram, Uttar Pradesh state secretary Hiralal Yadav,  Central Committee member Vikram Singh, state secretariat member DP Singh etc. The public meeting was presided over by state secretariat member Surendra Singh and conducted by Chandrapal Singh.

Speaking as the keynote speaker, Subhashini Ali said that only the Red Flag is an alternative. She said that CPI(M) will work for building a Left, democratic alternative by intensifying class struggles.

She said that the poor farmers of the state have been ruined under CM Yogi’s government. Dalit people are dismounted from horses. FIR is not registered in the police station and attacks on minorities are continuous and extremely heinous.

Uttar Pradesh has played a key role in the farmers' movement.  The people of Uttar Pradesh weakened the strength of BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh resorts to politics of hatred influenced by the communal and Manuvadi ideology. Women are becoming victims of heinous crimes and brutal rape. She called for fighting against violence on women, to save democracy and the Constitution and to build a better society. She said that only the soldiers of the Red Flag can build a better society. She said that BJP has to be removed from the chair and the capitalist system should come to an end. A Socialist world should be built where farmers, workers, students, youth and women will get equal rights.

Addressing the meeting, Amra Ram said that BJP and RSS want to change the Constitution and bring in a 100 year old system in which there are no equal rights. He called for the forces of the Red Flag to be further strengthened. He said that the BJP government has been in power for 10 years, and questioned how much of what was promised has been fulfilled in those 10 years? All promises including that of providing two crore jobs per year, that of giving MSP to farmers as per Swaminathan Commission report, that of doubling the farmer's income by 2022 and that of bringing back black money and giving Rs 15 lakh to everyone have been proven false.

In the public meeting, Hiralal Yadav said that the plan to bring about changes in the state will be discussed for the next three days in the conference. He said that we will fight to change the situation in the state. Three global summits were held in the state but no investment came. Free land and tax exemption to corporate investors have been announced while the people living in the villages are being uprooted from the lands of the gram sabha. These lands are being given to the corporate investors. Poor people's leases are being cancelled. Workers are being made to work for 12 hours. Women are being made to work in night shifts. He said that all of this is outrageous.

He said that bulldozer rule is rampant in the state. Bulldozers are running on the settlements of minorities as well as the poor. He said that BJP wants to create a Hindu Rashtra, where dalits, poor and women will not have the right to be equal. CPI(M) and Left are fighting the battle to save the Constitution and democracy in the state and will strengthen and intensify the fight for livelihood.

Vikram Singh in his address said that people of Uttar Pradesh are fighting against all kinds of hardships of which the most extreme is corporate-communal nexus.

At the beginning of the meeting, chairman of the reception committee Meghraj Solanki welcomed everyone. Folk singer Ratan Gambhir presented revolutionary songs. In the end, CPI(M) Bulandshahr district secretary, Jagveer Bhati presented the vote of thanks.