The 7th Chhattisgarh state conference of the CPI(M) was held on December 21-22, 2021 in Korba.  

The conference started with flag hoisting by Gajendra Jha and garlanding and wreath-laying on the martyr column by the delegates. A three-member presidium of M K Nandi, Bal Singh and R V Bharti was elected.

Giving the welcome address, CITU leader V M Manohar referred to the struggles of the land led by the Party in Korba and called for strengthening worker-peasant unity.

Inaugurating the conference and addressing the open session, Polit Bureau Member Tapan Sen said that the victory of the nationwide farmers' movement has changed the political agenda. This movement has shown that corporate plunder can be curbed, but for this the class struggle will have to be intensified by strengthening worker-peasant unity. It is the duty of every communist to organise and intensify mass resistance against the anti-people policies of the ruling class because the class struggle is the only weapon of fundamental change in society. We have won the fight against land acquisition and privatisation in the past, but now this fight has to reach its political end and ensure the defeat of the RSS controlled BJP in all the upcoming elections.

CPI(M) Madhya Pradesh state secretary, Jaswinder Singh was also invited to the conference. He extended his best wishes for the success of the conference. In his address, he remembered Shailendra Shaili, S Kumar, Bahadur Singh Dhakad, S Sudevan, Kameshwar Singh and Subir Talukdar who had contributed immensely in building the Party and mass organizations in undivided Madhya Pradesh.

DELEGATE SESSION: REPORT AND DEBATE

The political-organisational report was presented by Sanjay Parate in the delegate session that began immediately after the open session. 

It has been highlighted in the report that after the defeat of BJP in the last assembly elections, possibilities have arisen for developing democratic movements in the state. Therefore, it is necessary to make a clear political distinction between Congress and the BJP. Making this distinction, the report also criticised Congress's soft stand on BJP-RSS communal policies and said that it is the BJP's project in the name of Ram that it is carrying forward, which is strongly opposed in the tribal areas. Even in the loot of land for profit, the corporate devotion of Congress is not hidden from anyone. Forest Rights and PESA Act are being flouted in tribal areas and tribals are being repressed for corporate loot of natural resources. The firing on the tribals of Silger area, who raised their voice against the police camp, is proof of this. That is why the need to develop all possible opposition to the anti-people decisions and measures of the Congress and its Hindutva oriented campaign has also been emphasised in the report.

Delegates from nine districts participated in the discussion. The debate was very constructive and positive, expressing not only concern about the stagnation of the organisation, but also the yearning to break this stagnation. The Party-state secretary gave a brief reply to the debate. He assured the conference that the state-centre would live up to their expectations. He stressed that our Party members working in mass organisations cannot be above the principles, functioning and discipline of the party. If we work in a planned manner, then the power of mass organisations will also increase and the political influence of the Party among the general public will also increase. He clarified that to work in a planned manner means to rise above the symbolism and stereotyped methodology, not only to mobilise the entire Party mass but also to mobilise the mass community, which is outside our sphere of influence. The conference then passed the report.

CREDENTIAL COMMITTEE REPORT

D V S Reddy, the convener of the credential committee, presented his report. According to him, the conference was attended by 73 delegates from 11 districts and four observers, of whom 11 were women. Of these, 61 delegates were below 60 years of age. The youngest delegates were Virendra Singh (20 years) and Sumitra (22 years), who hailed from Surajpur district. Before the formation of Chhattisgarh state, 40 delegates come to the party. Among the delegates in the conference, 20 were tribals, seven were dalits and 60 delegates were born in the basic classes; workers, peasants. Among the delegates, seven were full-time workers. Among the delegates, the maximum number of 31 people came from trade unions. The annual income of 36 delegates was less than Rs 50,000, while there were 17 with an income above Rs 5 lakh. Thirty delegates had the experience of prison life, while two had the experience of underground life.

NEW STATE COMMITTEE

The conference elected a 23-member state committee with a vacancy of two seats. Sanjay Parate was re-elected as the secretary of state.

Four delegates were also elected in the conference for the Party Congress to be held in Kerala in April: Sanjay Parate, M K Nandi, Dharmaraj Mohapatra, Prashant Jha.

Concluding the state conference, Central Committee Member, Jogendra Sharma said that the organisation cannot be formed without organising mass struggles. The stronger the organisation, the more rapid the spread of mass struggles. This is the key to strengthening the CPI(M) and the Left in Chhattisgarh. He said that the character of our mass organisations should be such that every section of the general public can work in the organisation without any fear. Today, there is a need to develop a systematic struggle to fight against the cycle of liberalisation and privatisation in which our poor people are falling. Land displacement, forest rights, MGNREGA, oppression of tribals, etc., which we have identified, each of these problems are related to the pan-India issue. Therefore, the threats of organised struggles on these local issues go far. He stressed the need to organise the struggles on these issues in a continuous manner and bring them to positive results.