Report of the 11th Party Congress of CPIML

With the slogan of ‘Defeat Fascism, Save Democracy! Build the India of Our Martyrs’ Dreams!’ the 11th CPIML Party Congress was held in Vinod Mishra Nagar (Patna, Bihar) between February 15 and 20.

For the Party Congress, Patna was renamed as Vinod Mishra Nagar and the auditorium as Ramnaresh Ram Hall to pay tribute to two of our great leaders. The dais was dedicated to the memory of Comrades DP Bakshi, BB Pandey and NK Natarajan, the three beloved CCMs we lost since our 10th Party Congress held at Mansa, Punjab, in March 2018.

‘Save Democracy, Save India’ Rally

The party congress commenced with the ‘Save Democracy, Save India’ rally, a massive rally organised on February 15th at Gandhi Maidan, where tens and thousands of people, including rural poor, peasants and farmers, women, students, youth and members of the working class participated.

The rally began with tributes paid at the Martyrs’ Column at Gandhi Maidan.

The rally was addressed by CPIML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya who said that it was pertinent to build oppositional unity to defeat fascism in the country. “The poorest of the poor need democracy the most. People build democracy on all fronts through struggles and mass movements. We will be able to fight only if there is democracy and democracy for everyone,” he said.

Political resolutions presented by Manju Prakash were adopted at the rally, which resolved to fight against all forms of hate and oppression, as also against the all-out assault of the Sangh Parivar.

Kunal, Bihar state secretary welcomed the participants of the rally while Dhirendra Jha conducted the proceedings. Vinod Singh, politburo member and MLA of Bagodar, Jharkhand, Mahboob Alam, leader of the legislative group of CPIML and MLA of Balrampur, Satyadeo Ram, deputy leader of the CPIML legislative group, Manoj Manzil, MLA of Agiaon, Sandeep Saurav, MLA of Paliganj, Meena Tiwari, general secretary of AIPWA, Shashi Yadav, National Convener of Scheme Workers Federation, among others addressed the rally.

Comrades from fraternal organisations from Nepal, Bangladesh, Australia and United Kingdom were present at the rally.

Inaugural Session

The inaugural session of the 11th CPIML Party Congress was held 16 February at Ramnaresh Ram Hall (SK Memorial Hall, Patna) after the hoisting of the communist flag and paying tributes to our departed leaders and martyred comrades at the Shaheed Vedi (Martyrs’ Memorial) erected at the venue. An eternal flame was lit at the Martyrs’ Memorial representing the sacrifices and the revolutionary legacy of the martyred comrades.

The open inaugural session began with revolutionary songs sung by comrades from the party’s cultural fronts. Rajaram Singh welcomed the delegates and the guests on the dais for the inaugural session. Swadesh Bhattacharya presided over the session which was moderated by Meena Tiwari and V Shankar.

The reception committee for the 11th Party Congress comprised several known public intellectuals like Prof. Bharti S Kumar, Dr. OP Jaiswal and Ghalib Khan among others. Dr. OP Jaiswal welcomed the party congress delegates and guests on behalf of the Reception Committee.

Abhijit Majumdar read out the Condolence Resolution, paying the party’s respects and tributes to all the comrades and progressive personalities from India and abroad who departed since the party’s Tenth Congress held at Mansa, Punjab in 2018. He began by paying tributes to departed party leaders Com. D. P. Bakshi, Com. B.B. Pandey, Com. N K Natarajan, Com. Kshitish Biswal, Com. Ramjatan Sharma, and Com. Pawan Sharma.

After the condolence resolution was presented, Kunal, Bihar State Secretary welcomed the delegates and guests. He welcomed comrades from various fraternal parties of the Indian Left, guests from the international Left and progressive movements, and the delegates, guests, observers, volunteers, citizens and press representatives from across the country. Remembering and celebrating the glorious history of Bihar which has always been a fertile ground for rebellion against conservative philosophical trends and religious authorities and a birthplace for various atheistic sects, he said that “Today’s Bihar is also the birthplace of ancient democracy - Licchvi Republic” and “Freedom, equality, brotherhood and social justice—the struggle to achieve all these democratic values and the fierce resistance to all kinds of exploitation, loot, and oppression is the old identity of Bihar.”

Recalling the contribution of Bihar in the Indian freedom struggle, he said, “names of Peer Ali and Jawahir Rajwar are also recorded among the main heroes along with Veer Kunwar Singh in India’s first freedom struggle and is a golden page in the history of Bihar.” He said this rich historical legacy was witnessed again yesterday at the ‘Save Democracy—Save India’ rally organized at Gandhi Maidan, Patna where a strong voice was raised for the struggle against fascism and concluded by saying that “Bihar has also shown a new path to the whole country in the past. The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar gives a new model to keep out the BJP from the state’s power, and we hope that the entire country will move forward on this path in the coming days.”

Dipankar Bhattacharya presented the inaugural address at the session highlighting the tasks before us at this crucial juncture.

The inaugural session highlighted the need for a concerted political ideological challenge to the BJP-RSS during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and beyond, more so given the significance of Magathbandhan politics in Bihar, and in framing the oppositional agenda for the upcoming elections.

Md. Salim, Politburo member of CPI(M), who spoke at the inaugural session said that the challenge that the Left is facing from the Hindutva-corporate regime and that the Left has an important role in countering the same, by uniting all democratic forces. “The left alternative is the real alternative to the BJP Hindutva regime,” he said.

Pallab Sengupta of CPI said, “Your party congress is of great significance since it is taking place at a key juncture of world history. We are confronting issues that are challenging the core principles of humanity, and we do believe that the question of communist unity and the greater unification of communist forces is demand of the time.”

Arup Chatterjee, acting Presidentof  the Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC), Manoj Bhattacharya, General Secretary of  Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), G Devrajan from All India Forward Bloc, Mangat Ram Palsa,  General Secretary of Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI), and Bhimrao Bansod from the Lal Nishan Party and other guests were invited to be part of the inaugural session, who addressed the gathering. Also joining the inaugural session was Com. Ishwar Pokhrel, former deputy PM of Nepal and leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist). All the guests were felicitated by the reception committee members.

Rajaram Singh welcomed the guests and also delivered vote of thanks at the concluding moment. With more than 1700 delegates, observers and guests from 27 states and union territories, this was the biggest party congress in the history of CPIML.

International Solidarity

In the international solidarity session held on 17 February, fraternal organisations from many countries expressed their solidarity with the ongoing people’s struggles in India and extended their cooperation and support in building a world that is just, democratic and plural.

Ishwar Pokhrel, Senior Vice President of CPN(UML), Nepal, attended inaugural session of the 11th Congress along with a four-member delegation from his party. He addressed the gathering at inaugural session and said that their party has received tremendous support from the people of Nepal, and their victory is reflective of the protracted struggles fought by the party at every stage. He said, “Our responsibility is to defeat the reactionary forces that continue to assault the working class. The demand is to uproot all anti-people structures and institutions. Only socialism guarantees equality and rights to all.”

Jhala Nath Khanal of CPN(Unified Socialist) and former Prime Minister of Nepal, said that Nepal is passing through changes, where even though the communist parties have been able to consolidate and win elections, the right-wing elements are penetrating society and trying to bring back monarchy. He attended the International Solidarity session along with a three-member delegation from his party.

Comrades Bazlur Rashid Firoz, General Secretary, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Socialist Party of Bangladesh); Saiful Haque, General Secretary, Bangladesher Biplabi Workers’ Party (Revolutionary Workers’ Party of Bangladesh); Sam Wainwright, National Co-convenor Socialist Alliance Australia; Ramon Augusto Lobo, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Friendship Group and member of Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV); Apoorva Gautam, Asia-Pacific coordinator of BDS Movement Palestine; representative of Socialist Rukh, Ukraine; Amrit Wilson, Kalpana Wilson and Sarabjit Johal from South Asia Solidarity Group (SASG), UK addressed the International Solidarity session.

The messages of solidarity and congratulations received from Alejandro Simancas Marin, Ambassador of Cuba in India, MLPD Germany, Partido Communista Ecuatoriano (Ecuador), Partido Manggagawa (Labour Party, Philippines), Communist Party of Swaziland, Union of Cypriots (Cyprus), Left Radical of Afghanistan (LRA), Lao People’s Revolutionary Party of Laos, Danish Communist Party and also by Shahd Abusalama, a Palestine activist based in UK, were read out in the 11th Congress.

The Communist Party of Iran; Communist Party of Argentina (Extraordinary Congress); Die Linke (Germany) and Landless People’s Movement of Namibia extended their congratulations to the CPIML party congress.

Video messages were also received from Sivarajan Arumugam, General Secretary, Socialist Party of Malaysia; Swastika Arulingam, President, Commercial and Industrial Workers’ Union in Sri Lanka; Omar Barghouti, Co-founder of BDS Movement Palestine; Arnau Pique, International relations secretary, Communists of Catalonia; and Akhtar Hussein, President Awami Workers Party, Pakistan.

Sarabjit Johal presented an art work painted by her, which represented the idea that with collective struggle we become united and our weaknesses become strength.

‘Save Constitution, Save Democracy, Save India’ Convention

On the third day of the 11th CPIML Party Congress, on 18 February a ‘Save Constitution, Save Democracy, Save India’ convention was organised, where the Mahagathbandhan leaders, including Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, JD(U) president Lalan Singh, and senior leader of Indian National Congress and former cabinet minister Salman Khurshid and Member of Parliament and President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (Liberation Panthers Party, Tamil Nadu) Thol. Thirumavalavan attended the convention. The convention was held in the context of continuing the larger unity being built in Bihar among the anti-fascist forces. Bihar, which has played a historic role for such struggles, will show the way forward to build a large anti-fascist movement and solidarity. The Convention was moderated by Rajaram Singh.

The keynote speech was addressed by CPIML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who welcomed all the leaders and said, “The point of this convention is very clear – if the Constitution and democracy are in danger, there is a need for a decisive struggle to save them from the fascist forces and we need a grand unity for that.” He added that time and again, Bihar has shown how opposition is built both in the streets and electorally. The General Secretary added that the convention being called as part of the 11th Party Congress is a clarion call for resistance and opposition to the emergency-like situation in the country.

Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar said that the current regime is working in its own interest, and to fight against this, seven parties joined in in the interest of the country and we came out of the alliance (with the BJP). “The decision we have taken towards the Mahagathbandhan has gone well with the people, so we will continue to work like this together. But we have a responsibility beyond Bihar, and in light of the 2024 elections, we must fight together and get rid of the current regime,” he added. The Chief Minister added, “We have been together with the struggles and the people of CPIML, and we assure that we will be there in the future as well. We will continue to work together.”

Deputy Chief Minister, Tejashwi Yadav, said “We do not have Ambani-Adani to bankroll us. We also don’t misuse the government institutions to crackdown on opposition, yet despite the attacks on us, we came together in Bihar to teach BJP a lesson and establish a unity based on the country’s interest”. He added, “We have said it time and again that in places where regional parties are strong, they should be given the driving seat and where there is two-sided fight between the Congress and BJP, we will support Congress.”

Salman Khurshid, senior leader of the Indian National Congress and former cabinet minister, said, “What we face today are fascist powers. But, they are cowards. Our unity will scare them to retreat.” He said that as against the hate model of BJP, Bihar model of oppositional unity will show the way forward. He assured that he will take forward the message of unity in the Congress party, which is also ready to build oppositional unity.

Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, sent in a solidarity message to the party congress and said that there is a danger looming on the Constitution today, which is extremely worrisome. “It is important that all who believe in the Constitution, secularism, democracy come together,” he said.

President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Tamil Nadu, Thol. Thirumavalavan, said “We must oppose bigotry uncompromisingly. Fascism is hitting Indian democracy like tsunami. It wants to make sure that a majority government will function as a majoritarian government.”

Guest Speakers

Arundhathi Roy, writer and activist, expressed solidarity to anti-fascist struggles and the CPIML’s party congress. She said that anti-caste and anti-capitalist struggles have to come together to resist fascism. She welcomed the coming together of various political groups to form anti-fascist opposition.

Other guests included Urmilesh, an independent journalist, said, “The communists of India have a legacy of immense sacrifice and struggle and if we are to defeat the current regime, the communists must lead the movement for a greater unity of the oppressed.”

Aditya Nigam who addressed the delegates said that alongside bold protests against the fascist offensive we must also focus on building a powerful cultural resistance drawing on the rich legacy of anti-caste anti-patriarchy struggles for social equality and human dignity and strengthening the Indian mosaic of communal harmony, social diversity and cultural pluralism.

Kaustav Banerjee, assistant professor at Ambedkar University in Delhi, said, “CPIML is a party which has a mass base among agrarian workers and especially in the backdrop of the recent farmers’ protest, in pace with the changing times, we need to link agriculture with climate crisis. Farmers protest has shown us a way to see the agrarian programme beyond the bourgeois notion.” The annihilation of patriarchy is a must for revolutionary transformation and to reach out to the masses on a wider scale is to address the linguistic diversity as an equally crucial aspect, he added.

Journalist and writer Bhasha Singh, said that we see that internationally – in Latin America and Europe – people are fighting back oppression under the red flag, and in India too, the red flag will lead the way.

Rati Rao, AIPWA National President, Prof. Vidyarthi Vikas of AN Sinha Institute, Patna and Delhi based journalist Anil Chamaria also shared their views with the delegates and expressed solidarity with the party congress. Leader of Satyashokhak Communist Party, Maharashtra, Kishore Dhamale addressed the party congress on 17th February.

Cultural Presentations

This 11th Party Congress was also a confluence of various cultural teams from different states who presented culture of resistance through songs, dance and other art forms in different languages. The delegates and cultural teams from many states presented many songs and ballads during delegate sessions.

The artists of Paschim Banga Gan Shilpi Parishad led by Nitish and Babuni staged an excellent presentation of a group dance based on popular song ‘Mukt Hogi Priy Matrabhumi’. Priti Bhaskar of Jharkhand expressed women’s aspirations and struggle for freedom in her dance. A group dance by Jharkhand Sanskriti Manch expressed adivasis’ quest for control over their own ‘Jal-Jangal-Zameen’. Some delegates from Assam sang songs depicting the wage struggles of Tea Garden workers in that state.

Popular folk artist, singer and composer Krishna Kumar ‘Nirmohi’ along with Anil Anshuman, Puneet Kumar, Nirmal Nayan, Raju Ranjan and Kamta Prasad, all from Bihar Jan Sanskriti Manch, presented many songs. Hirawal, Patna led by Santosh Jha very artistically presented Dinesh Shukla’s poem ‘Jaag mere man machhandar’ which is dedicated to Gorakh Pandey. This team also gave excellent presentations of ‘Hum Dekhenge’ of Faiz Ahmad Faiz and ‘Shrishti Beez ka Nash Na Ho’ of Maheshwar. The artists from Korus, Patna presented many songs.

Delegates and artists from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karbi Anglong, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala presented many songs and ballads. Uttarakhand’s Madan Mohan Chamoli, Indresh Maikhuri and Ankit Uchholi’s vivid presentation of ‘Ladna Hai Bhai, Abhi Lambi Ladai Hai’ which was a popular song during Uttarakhand movement days, virtually reenacted the indomitable spirit of people’s struggle in the hills of Himalayas during the decades of seventies and eighties.

Delegate Sessions

The amendment to the party Constitution regarding the formation of Gender Justice and Sensitisation Cell was widely welcomed by the delegates.

The anti-fascist resolution recognised fascism as the main threat to people and democracy in the current juncture of Indian history. Indian democracy is threatened by fascism’s manifestation as a corporate-communal nexus. On the international situation, the CPI(ML) unequivocally condemned the Putin regime in Russia for its aggression towards Ukraine and called for an end to the war. The party recognized NATO as a vehicle of US imperialism and called for its dismantlement. The party also held that the Chinese claim of building socialism with Chinese characteristics is increasingly becoming a euphemism for what should be described as capitalism with Chinese characteristics. It has reduced socialism to basic welfare-ism, where capitalism is kept under control, but there is an acute lack of political freedom. Chinese capitalism’s role in Africa, Pakistan and other countries needs to be seen through a critical lens.

In response to the debate on the anti-fascist resolution and the resolution on national situation, Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya said that fascism will be spoken about in terms of its political form, as there is no fascist mode of production. “This is politics in command where we do a ‘concrete analysis of concrete conditions’. Democracy is a platform of struggle and fascism must not be generalised in a loose manner,” he said. In response to the resolution on international situation, the General Secretary said that while we uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat on principle, we believe that there is no socialism without democracy. “Socialism in India must function within our multi-party democracy and we must look to create a durable political fabric which will leave the socialist basis intact, despite the coming and going of governments. We certainly do not uphold bourgeois democracy, but believe in proletarian democracy, which will be very different from bourgeois democracy,” he added.

Election of CC and CCC

On the last day of the 11th Congress Prabhat Kumar presented the organizational status report as well as the financial status report on behalf of the outgoing central committee. VKS Gautam presented the Credentials Report of the party congress delegates. The report of the outgoing Central Control Commission was presented by Uma Gupta.

The House elected a five-member Election Commission which was presided over by SK Sharma. The Election Commission conducted the process of elections for the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission. A five-member Central Control Commission comprised of comrades Raja Bahuguna, Uma Gupta, Nakshattar Singh Khewa, Dhiraj Das and Krishnaveni was unanimously elected by the House. The CCC in turn elected Raja Bahuguna as its Chairperson.

A total of 1299 delegates took part in the voting for the 76 members of the Central Committee from among 82 candidates, out of which a 76-member panel was proposed by the outgoing central committee and 6 nominations came from among the delegates. The delegates cast their secret ballot on six designated polling booths. The EC was helped by a number of volunteers who assisted in managing the queues and voters’ identification etc. and also in the counting of votes under the supervision of the EC. This whole process took few hours till the Election Commission declared the names of newly elected CC members. The new Central Committee immediately held a brief meeting and elected comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya as the General Secretary. The Chairperson of the Central Control Commission is the ex-officio member of the Central Committee.

New members elected to the Central Committee included comrades Maitreyi Krishnan from Karnataka, Kailash Pandey and Indresh Maikhuri from Uttarakhand, Sweta Raj and Niraj Kumar from Delhi, Farhat Bano from Rajasthan, Indrani Dutta from West Bengal, and Manju Prakash, Kumar Parvez, Naveen Kumar, Prakash Kumar, Satyadev Ram and Sandeep Saurav from Bihar.
The House also passed a resolution for inducting Special and Permanent Invitees to the Central Committee.

Conclusion of the 11th Party Congress

Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary briefly addressed the House on behalf of the new CC and congratulated Bihar party comrades for successfully organizing this historic Congress. He called upon to carry forward its message with full vigour and renewed enthusiasm. He felicitated more than two hundred volunteers who toiled for months to make the party congress successful.

In the end, comrade Swadesh Bhattacharya saluted all delegates and guests for making this historic Party Congress of the CPIML a success. He said that our Party Congress has accepted the challenge of building a resistance to fascism and bringing together a broad unity of democratic voices of our country.  “We know that the CPIML has withstood all challenges that the march of history and struggle has thrown at us. And in these times, comrades, all of us must push the limits of our capacities in the fight against fascism and the fight for democracy,” he said.

Swadesh Bhattacharya further noted that “we hope that the united struggle against fascism will take the CPIML to new heights and strengthen our party to new possibilities. All of us must translate the message of this Congress into our daily lives and struggles. We must bring together all forces capable of fighting the BJP. May we witness a new wave of people’s movements against fascism, and may we see the red flag of CPIML held high among those movements of the people.”

With this message and a vote of thanks by the Presidium, the 11th Party Congress of CPIML concluded with the singing of the Internationale!

As delegates exited the Congress Hall the whole venue was reverberating with revolutionary slogans.