THE 21st Tamil Nadu state conference of the CPI(M) began with veteran leader of the Party as well as of the communist movement of the country, Comrade N Sankariah hoisting the flag, which was brought from Keezh Venmani in memory of Venmani martyrs.

Torches in memory of Coimbatore Chinniyampalyam martyrs and the legendry communists M Singaravelar, B Srinivasa Rao and VP Cintan brought from various parts of Chennai were also handed over to the leaders.

The conference which was held from February 16-19 was held in Chennai. K Bhimrao MLA, chairperson of the reception committee welcomed all. A Soundararajan MLA, and Central Committee member of the Party presided over the open session. Prakash Karat, general secretary inaugurated the conference.

Charging that the two Dravidian parties - the AIADMK and the DMK - were riddled with corruption and had pursued neo-liberal policies advocated by the central governments led by the Congress and the BJP, Prakash Karat said that the CPI(M) would present a new political alternative to the people of Tamil Nadu.

"We would like to present before the people of Tamil Nadu, that there is a need for an alternative; a new political alternative. That is what we are going to put forward in our all India Congress," he said.

Karat said time and again the DMK and the AIADMK, had let down the people of Tamil Nadu even though they have claimed to have inherited the Dravidian ideology and tradition.

"What we see is the degeneration. What was there in the Dravidian movement has long since been given up by these parties. We find these two parties are riddled with corruption and whenever they have governed Tamil Nadu, they have pursued neo-liberal policies advocated by the Congress and the BJP governments at the centre. Both these parties have not hesitated to have opportunistically aligning with the Congress or with the BJP whenever it suited their interest," he said.

Karat said the CPI(M) in Tamil Nadu was continuously taking up issues of working class people and it had always been in the forefront in the fight against untouchability and caste discrimination, something the Dravidian parties had long since given up.

"Our party has also set out a programme for the development of Tamil Nadu which is balanced, equitable and with social justice," he said, adding that the primary task was to strengthen the CPI (M) in Tamil Nadu.

"Only with the strengthening of the Left, the CPI (M) and the Left parties together can go forward and present a Left and democratic political alternative before the people. The struggle to rally all the Left and democratic forces - that is our agenda," he reiterated.

At the delegates session, G Ramakrishnan, state secretary placed the political –organisational report. 108 delegates including 20 women participated in the discussion on behalf of the total 600 delegates. 38 observers also attended the conference.

The conference elected an 81-member state committee. The new state committee unanimously re-elected G Ramakrishnan as its secretary. 15-member secretariat was also elected.

The conference elected the veteran leader N Sankariah and senior leaders D Lakshmanan, V Meenakshi Sundaram, SA Perumal and R Singaravelu as special invitees.

The conference gave a call to organise intense struggles against the pro-corporate-pro-communal policies of the BJP led central government as well as the anti-people AIADMK government in the state.

A massive rally at Chennai on February 19, concluded the conference. On that day, not as usual, the public gathering had started from the morning itself at the YMCA grounds named VP Cintan grounds as thousands and thousands of people from across the state poured in. The official red volunteers march started in the afternoon. But the people who came later were not able to enter the grounds as it was already overflowing.

Addressing the massive gathering, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the auction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suit, specially designed for the visit of US President Barack Obama, was against the laws of the country as gifts received by the prime minister should go to the treasury.

Describing the auction to collect money for philanthropy as “a bizarre incident,” he said there could be a CBI inquiry into the auction in the future as it happened in the case of the Saradha scam in which the paintings of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were sold. “I expect it (CBI inquiry) to happen,” he said.