THE ninth state conference of the CPI(M), Andaman and Nicobar unit held in Port Blair on January 4, has decided to re-activate the Party in the islands and intensify the fight against the anti-people policies of the BJP-led government at the centre. The conference was held at the Shaheed Bhavan, the CPI(M) state committee office, in Port Blair. The conference passed a resolution demanding establishment of a legislative assembly for the Andaman and Nicobar islands in order to fulfill the aspirations of the islanders.

The conference began with the hoisting of the Party flag by Hannan Mollah, CPI(M) central secretariat member and former MP, at the venue and thereafter, delegates and observers paid floral tributes at the martyrs column. D Laxman Rao, chairman of the reception committee, welcomed the participants to the conference while Tapan Bepari moved condolence resolutions. A three-member presidium comprising Tapan Bepari, D Hemlata and Ramjeeban Sarkar conducted the delegate session.

Hannan Mollah, after inaugurating the delegate session, dealt at length the prevailing situation in the country and said that the BJP-led central government is pursuing the same anti-people policies of the erstwhile Congress-led government. In addition, the Sangh Parivar is trying to divide the country on communal lines. People belonging to minority communities are being targeted by the Sangh Parivar outfits.

Mollah said the problems of the people remain unresolved as the Narendra Modi government is busy appeasing the corporate sector and communal forces. Referring to the widening inequalities between the rich and the poor, he said more and more concessions are being given to the corporate houses while the condition of the poor is deteriorating day-by-day. Referring to the spurt in farmer suicides in the country, Mollah said that the BJP government has forgotten the promises of remunerative prices of farm produces and other benefits given to the farmers during the Lok Sabha elections campaign.  

K G Das, secretary of CPI(M) state organising committee, presented the report  on the working of the Party in the Andaman and Nicobar islands for the last three years.  He briefly explained the political situation in the union territory and pointed out the unprincipled stand adopted by certain non-Congress and non-BJP parties in the islands which led to the candidates of all the political parties contesting separately during the last Lok Sabha elections. The Party’s failure to mobilise various sections of the people in the islands also reflected in the report.

Fifty-nine delegates and observers from various parts of the union territory participated in the discussion on the report. The conference adopted 29 resolutions on various issues concerning the islanders. Through a resolution, the conference also demanded establishment of a legislative assembly for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the Puducherry model.

The venue of the conference was named after veteran CPI(M) leader late Comrade Samar Mukherjee, who was a frequent visitor to the islands while  he was a Member of Parliament and took up various issues of the islands on the floor of the parliament.  

The conference elected a 16-member state organising committee with D Laxman Rao as secretary.  A six-member state secretariat comprising D Laxman Rao, K G Das, Tapan Bepari, B Chandrachoodan, Dr Gouranga Majhi and  Ramjeeban Sarkar was also elected in the conference.  K G Das was elected as the delegate for the 21st Party Congress.

On conclusion of the conference, a public meeting was held at Delanipur Park which was addressed by Hannan Mollah and all the six state secretariat members. Explaining the resolutions adopted in the conference, Das, the outgoing secretary, told the gathering that the Party has decided to mobilise the people on the issues of youth, students, workers and farmers.