Roasting in the desert heat of Sikar on August 31, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya tried to convince the people of Rajasthan to choose his party over the BJP or the Congress. The new-age Marxist had been fielded by the CPI(M) central command to take the party's biggest countrywide promotion campaign to the saffron state where in the 2003 Assembly elections, the CPI(M) had cornered 8.24 per cent votes. At the public rally, Bhattacharya urged farmers to arm themselves against the "ills" of neo-liberalisation even as the issue of land acquisition for special economic zones (SEZs) in Bengal turned into a political potboiler. Dialectics is used by most in the CPI(M) to justify internal contradictions and, therefore, accusing Bhattacharya alone of double speak would be unfair. But at the end of the August campaign party bosses in Delhi homed in on the truth that growth in a competitive democracy meant electoral gains. "In the last year and half, the CPI(M) has made overall progress, but increasing the representation of members in the state legislatures is a necessity," said party general secretary, Prakash Karat.
 | | | | | 9,45,486 members in the CPI(M) this year-80,000 more than 2004. The party's trade unions, youth and women wings claim to have 4.91 crore members. | | 5.66% is the national vote share registered by the party in the 2004 general elections against the Congress' 26.53 per cent and the BJP's 22.16 per cent. | | 43 seats in the 14th Lok Sabha as compared to 33 in the 13th has made the CPI(M) the third largest party in Parliament. The party, born in 1964, had won 19 seats in the 1967 Lok Sabha. | | 8.2% of the population comprising Scheduled Tribes is the Communist's new target constituency. It is hoping to find a base among 49 per cent of STs associated with agriculture. | | 7 states outside the Red bastion where the CPI(M) plans to win more elections. It has directed the party's 30,000-plus branches in the states to pursue social reforms. | | 5,63, 423 members in the CPI this year as compared to 5,43,000 in 2005. Though smaller than the CPI(M), it has intensified its movement in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. | | Elections to the West Bengal Assembly early this year saw the CPI(M) alone commanding a vote share of over 50 per cent. Yet, the party's presence in states outside its traditional bastions continues to embarrass its members. Barring West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the CPI(M) representation in legislatures is often as low as a single seat. In Tamil Nadu, the figure is more respectful at nine. Reaching its zenith in three states has made the CPI(M) the third largest party in the current Lok Sabha with 43 members and a national vote share of 5.66 per cent recorded during the 2004 general elections. H owever, at a time when regional parties are no longer confined to their states of origin, the CPI(M) statistics do not exactly exhibit a robust pan-India image. "The growth of the CPI(M) as an organisation does not always get reflected in election results," argues Politburo member Sitaram Yechury. He admits that since the party's birth in 1964, the CPI(M)'s primary occupation has been with economic policies which alienated it from equally relevant social issues that have troubled various states through the last decades. "Our inability to fulfil people's expectations on social issues in the same manner as we met those on the economic front became our weakness," admits Yechury. In April 2005, the CPI(M) membership stood at 8.67 lakh. Following a review of the organisation's growth by its 70-member central committee in Delhi last month, Karat claimed the current figure has crossed 9.45 lakh. The party's mass organisations, comprising trade unions, women and students' wings, are also believed to have around 4.91 crore members on its current rolls. According to the general secretary, the readership of party journals like People's Democracy, Ganashakti or Deshabhima is at an all-time high. What's troubling the CPI(M) command is that the rise in numbers is attributed mainly to the Red states, bringing into question the party's electoral fortunes elsewhere. | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | "For the CPI(M), increasing representation in the state legislatures is a necessity."
PRAKASH KARAT
GENERAL SECRETARY, CPI(M) | | So far, it was considered inept for party members to openly acknowledge the significance of winning elections, but 42 years of restricted growth have apparently pushed the party command to the wall. The film of ideology that CPI(M) leaders had been screening nationwide has quite evidently not helped consolidate votes outside the three states. On September 24, the central committee pondered over the situation, highlighting the need to further engage legislative representatives in party affairs. "In states where our presence is low, our MPs and MLAs are expected to pursue development activities more aggressively," said party Lok Sabha member Hannan Mullah. Now, the idea is to strengthen CPI(M) pockets in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. After building its base among the rural poor, urban working class and the farmers, the party's next electoral potential lies in the tribal belts. Although the CPI, with its own shrinking electoral record, is engaged in creating a distinct tribal base in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa by reviving the redundant Adivasi Mahasabha, the CPI(M) hardly views it as an in-house competitor. The CPI(M) may, however, find it tough to woo CPI(M-L) loyalists in Bihar's tribal areas since the radical party is the most formidable Left force in the state. But in Maharashtra's tribal pockets of Thane, Nasik and the Vidarbha region, the hammer and sickle dominates. Throwing its weight behind the NGOs, the CPI(M) is joining tribal movements in an attempt to fill the political vacuum created by disturbances within the other bigger parties. "We are struggling for the rights of tribal people related to food security, water, land and ethnic identities," says the party's Maharashtra unit secretary, Ashok Dale. Pramod Mahajan's demise, rifts within the Sena and the Congress, and tensions between the ruling Congress and the NCP fuel Dale's hopes of expanding the CPI(M)'s base. Intervention in local issues seems to have finally been incorporated in its strategy. Despite the corrective measures, scepticism persists. "It would be wrong to overestimate a small beginning. But now, the focus of the party is right," says central committee member (from Uttar Pradesh) Subhashini Ali. As a women's wing veteran, Ali has closely monitored and documented, in her words, "the tradition of oppression" in the state. So, while party bosses in Delhi evaluate the possibilities of a united alliance with Samajwadi Party (sp) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for next year's Assembly elections there, Ali engages in various social reforms programmes in Ferozabad, Allahabad, Mirzapur and Jhorakpur. Preparations for the coming zilla parishad polls take up most of her time as she battles the Mulayam administration's political excesses. The V.P. Singh-led Jan Morcha and the CPI have promised to back her, although the latter has already announced a campaign against the SP, still an ally of the CPI(M). Political strategies are often lost in the perception gap between Central and state leaders but such misinterpretations have cost the Left many an electoral battle.
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